Mammovan.... vrooooooooooom

Last year, my fantastic Mentee, Mallory, had the great opportunity of working on a fantastic project through the GW Planned Giving Program. Avon gave GW some massive amount of money to create the GW Mammovan. The GW Mammovan travels to the worst of the worst parts of DC, offering free mammograms to women who need them.

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The GW Cancer Institute received a $500,000 grant from the Avon Foundation that will support breast cancer outreach, education and screening services in the DC community. GW Cancer Institute Executive Director, Steven Patierno, PhD, accepted a check on May 4, as part of the Avon Walk DC Closing Ceremony.

The Foundation’s support for breast cancer services is critical because it will address the fact that DC has nearly the highest breast cancer mortality rate in the country. Actress Reese Witherspoon, honorary chair of the Avon Foundation, presented the check to Patierno and six other area organizations designated to receive funding from the Avon Foundation. This is the largest grant the Avon Foundation has awarded to GW.

The Avon grant will enable GW to deploy the GW Mammovan, a mobile mammography unit, equipped with state-of-the-art digital mammography technology, to medically underserved areas of the District, including Anacostia, a quadrant of our city that currently has no mammographic facilities. The GW Mammovan will reach women who have very little access to mammography, outreach and breast cancer education. The Avon Foundation’s executive director for Breast Cancer Crusade, Marc Hurlbert, PhD, attended the Fifth Annual Cancer Gala on Saturday, May 3, at the National Building Museum to announce that the grant had been awarded.

“We are pleased to be a recipient of this grant from the Avon Foundation. It will enable GW to provide a critical service to those in our city, who are in need. It is our hope that we can help to lower the breast cancer mortality rate in our city and deliver services that will detect breast cancer at an earlier stage, in women who live in our own backyard,” said John F. Williams, MD, EdD, MPH, Provost and Vice President for Health Affairs, GW Medical Center.

The Avon grant will also support the work of the GW Cancer Institute to create a network of business and faith-based community partnerships that will facilitate culturally competent outreach specialists to work with members of the community to provide educational materials and patient navigation. Additionally, it will enable the establishment of an Avon Imaging Fellowship that will provide training and experience for a Radiology/ Mammography Fellow in community-based medicine.