Washington, DC --- Over 2,500 participants in this weekend’s Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Washington, DC, raised more than $5.8 million for access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. At today’s closing ceremony at the Kennedy Center, the Avon Foundation announced initial grants that would be immediately awarded to local organizations thanks to the women and men who walked the 39.3-mile journey over Saturday and Sunday.

During the Avon Walk DC, walkers had a choice of walking a marathon (26.2 miles) or a marathon and a half (39.3 miles) over the weekend. The event kicked off Saturday, April 29, with an Opening Ceremony at the Kennedy Center and an immediate reminder of the devastation of breast cancer from speaker Beckie Owen, 54, of Springfield, Virginia, a nine-year breast cancer survivor. About to start her third Avon Walk, she spoke of how empowered she feels by the Walks as opportunities to be proactive in the fight against breast cancer.

Owen is one of four sisters, three of whom have been diagnosed with breast cancer. She lost one sister to the disease in 2003 at age 39, compelling her to take on her first Avon Walk with her niece. A second sister was diagnosed two years later and is now a healthy survivor. Owen is one of the more than 200 breast cancer survivors that participated in the Avon Walk this weekend.

After Owen’s speech, walkers began their journey and each selected to walk either 13.1 or 26.2 miles, supported by a volunteer crew every step of the way. All participants spent Saturday night in two-person tents in the Avon Walk “Wellness Village” in Rock Creek Hills Park in Kensington, complete with hot showers, prepared meals, entertainment, comprehensive medical services and other special services. On Sunday, April 30, walkers completed another 13.1 miles, concluding with a celebratory closing ceremony back at the Kennedy Center, where the Avon Foundation announced the new local funding grants made possible by the journey.

To participate in the Avon Walk Washington, DC, each walker raised a minimum of $1,800 in donations, which will be managed and disbursed by the Avon Foundation [a 501(c)(3) public charity]. Funds raised by participants of the Avon Walks are awarded to local, regional and national breast cancer organizations to support five areas of the breast cancer cause, including awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to treatment, support services, and scientific research. Ranging in age from 18 to 79, this weekend’s participants came from 39 states and from as far away as Iceland and Uganda.

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Washington, DC, is the first of eight noncompetitive events for women and men of all fitness levels held throughout the US. Additional Walk cities and dates include: Boston, MA, May 20-21; Chicago, IL, June 3-4; Denver, CO, June 24-25; San Francisco, CA, July 8-9; Los Angeles, CA, September 16-17; New York, NY, October 7-8; and Charlotte, NC, October 21-22.

Donations are still accepted for the Avon Walk DC and registration is open for the rest of the 2006 Avon Walk events at 800-510-WALK or www.avonwalk.org.

ABOUT THE AWARDED GRANTS
American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation (ASCO/Alexandria, VA) will receive $200,000 to support a three-year Avon Foundation-ASCO Clinical Research Career Development Award.

Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium will receive $2 million to support vital breast cancer research at thirteen institutions nationwide through a unique Breast Cancer Clinical Trials’ Consortium coordinated by the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

Food & Friends (Washington, DC) will receive $200,000 to support the continuation of the Avon Pink Ribbon Delivery Program that delivers meals and nutritional counseling to breast cancer patients and their families.

Inova Health Systems Foundation (Fairfax, VA) will receive $125,000 to continue the successful “Avon–Inova Cares Breast Cancer Network” through a partnership between the Women’s Center and the Fairfax Hospital Cancer Center in Virginia that supports underserved, non-English speaking women.

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins (Baltimore, MD) will receive $1 million to reach the medically underserved and support cutting edge research at the Avon Foundation Center at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) (Philadelphia, PA) will receive $1.2 million to accelerate research into screening by funding a national MRI screening program in high risk women.

University of Maryland Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD) will receive $100,000 to help reduce disparities in breast health care by recruiting and retaining more underrepresented minorities as breast cancer specialists.

ABOUT PREVIOUS LOCAL AVON WALK FUNDING INITIATIVES
The Avon Foundation has provided substantial funding to the DC metro area over the past years. In 2004, the Avon Foundation-funded Capital Breast Care Center opened in DC under the auspices of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center/Georgetown University, providing much-needed breast care services to the underserved population of the District and surrounding area. Additional Greater Metro Region organizations supported through the Avon Foundation include the Breast Cancer Resource Committee, Georgetown University, Howard University, University of Virginia and Whitman-Walker Clinic/Lesbian Services Program Breast Health Initiative.