SAN FRANCISCO --- More than 2,400 participants in this weekend’s fifth annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer San Francisco raised $5.6 million to advance access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. At today’s Closing Ceremony at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, Avon Foundation’s Executive Director Carol Kurzig announced the following nine initial grants:

San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH)/ University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) (San Francisco, CA) will receive $1,250,000 for the “Avon Comprehensive Breast Care Center,” which was created through past grants and includes a mobile mammography van, a high-risk genetic clinic, community outreach and breast cancer research programs. New funds will support program staff, a Stereotactic Biopsy table, expansion of a high-risk clinic from a pilot program to a prospective clinical trial, enhancement of community outreach efforts and instituting a survivor program to engage women served by the Avon Comprehensive Breast Care Center.

Marin County Department of Health (San Rafael, CA) will receive $400,000 to support the Marin Women’s Study focused on breast cancer risk, with the goal to validate a new assay that measures hormone levels in saliva and to design a new risk algorithm that links association between breast density, age at first full term pregnancy, and circulating hormone levels. This study aims to validate a saliva test that measures circulating hormone levels with postmenopausal breast cancer risk and, if successful, it can be rapidly expanded to possible home-use and community-wide screening.

Women’s Cancer Resource Center (Oakland, CA) will receive $225,000 for community outreach, education and navigation services to women facing cancer in the underserved communities of the East Bay area, namely Oakland, Richmond and Contra Costa County. The goals of the program are to serve 3,000 women each year diagnosed with cancer (75% breast cancer) through all programs – navigation, financial assistance, education and case management. Four community health education workshops will be held each year and cancer navigation services will be provided to Latina patients referred to Highland Hospital and Alameda County Medical Center.

Alameda County Health Care Foundation (Oakland, CA) will receive $215,000 to continue support of the Pathfinders Outreach and Cancer Navigation program, which provides outreach to unscreened populations in the East Bay Area. This program aims to increase the number of low-income, multi-cultural women who are screened and to improve the quality of care offered to underserved women by providing outreach to unscreened populations and navigation for all women referred for breast evaluation.

Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino County (Mendocino, CA) will receive $200,000 to support two initiatives: first, the incorporation of findings from its “Consultation Support for Diverse, Rural Breast Patients” Research Project into CRCM’s core decisions support programming for 135 breast cancer survivors, family members and caregivers. Secondly, funds will support the development of training curriculum for rural patient navigation and pilot it in two rural communities.

Contra Costa Health Services (Martinez, CA) will receive $200,000 to continue support of patient navigation and case management services for low-income, uninsured, underserved women, with special emphasis on African American women, Spanish-speaking and other non-English speaking women. These funds will help to increase the number of women obtaining breast health services by 500; increase the number of women navigated by 5%; and, reduce the time between breast cancer diagnosis and the start of treatment from 2 months to 1 month.

Project Open Hand (San Francisco, CA) will receive $200,000 to support the expansion of Project Open Hand’s (POH) Homebound Critically Ill Program that provides meals and an education program for breast cancer patients and other critically ill patients. The goals are to increase the number of unique, unduplicated breast cancer family clients annually; expand outreach to the local breast cancer community; and fully implement and expand the new grocery program.

Zero Breast Cancer (San Rafael, CA) will receive $150,000 to support a program to build community capacity and engagement in research projects, public education initiative and advocacy efforts focused on the prevention of breast cancer in understudied and at-risk communities. Funds will support continued involvement with the NIEHS Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers and continued partnership between Zero Breast Cancer and UCSF.

Communities for a Better Environment (Oakland, CA) will receive $125,000 to support the expansion of a community research project entitled “Linking Breast Cancer Advocacy and Environmental Justice: Household Exposure Study”. This includes conducting a door-to-door community health survey targeting 200 homes in the East Bay, including Richmond and Oakland. The study will also examine neighborhood data on mammography screening, the number of breast cancer cases, and access to breast health information. Communities for a Better Environment will collaborate with experts at U.C. Berkeley and the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Massachusetts (which is also funded by the Avon Foundation).

About the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
During the Avon Walk San Francisco, 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, July 7th, with an early morning Opening Ceremony at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, which included an immediate reminder of the impact of breast cancer through the remarks of Ilana Minkoff, 37, a 4th generation breast cancer survivor, who spoke of the excellent medical care she received in the Bay Area.

“I am so proud that our walk this weekend will help to make sure those amazing doctors, treatments and support programs are available to those who might not otherwise have them,” said Minkoff.

Following the inspiring Opening Ceremony, walkers began their journey, supported by a volunteer crew every step of the way. After completing the first day of walking, participants spent Saturday night in two-person tents in the Avon Walk “Wellness Village” at The Presidio’s Crissy Field, complete with hot showers, prepared meals and live entertainment. Sunday, July 8th, walkers completed another 13.1 miles, ending back at Golden Gate Park where they were greeted by thousands of family and friends who shared in a celebratory and moving Closing Ceremony.

To participate in the Avon Walk San Francisco, each walker raised a minimum of $1,800 in donations, which is 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, all with a focus on the medically underserved. Donations are still being accepted for the Avon Walk San Francisco, and registration is still open for women and men to take part in the remaining Walks of 2007: Los Angeles, CA (September 15-16); New York, NY (October 6-7); and Charlotte, NC (October 20-21). The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer recently completed walks in Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago and Denver raising more than $25 million to date in 2007.

To register, donate or for additional information, please visit www.avonwalk.org or call 800-510-WALK.