Race’s Big Finish to Aid Breast Cancer Organizations

Orange County’s Race for the Cure hit pay dirt in a big way last fall, netting more than $1 million to fight breast cancer, far more than in any previous year.

In coming weeks, community-based groups will receive grants totaling about half that, or $500,000, from organizers of the annual charity event.

The grants will fund free mammograms and screening programs, public awareness and education efforts as well as community clinics and several film projects that feature the lives of breast cancer survivors.

The local race is run by the Orange County chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. More than 22,000 runners participated in the Sept. 27 race in Newport Beach.

The Dallas-based parent group is the largest nonprofit provider of breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment services for women in the nation and a leading funder of innovative breast cancer research. It sponsors almost 100 Race for the Cure events around the country and the Orange County fund-raiser this year ranked in the top seven.

“We raised $1 million in one day and 75% of that stays in Orange County,” said Sueanne Pacini, president of the Orange County chapter. “We believe this is the largest fund-raiser in Orange County in all of 1998, and it demonstrates how close the issue of breast cancer is to the people of Orange County.”

About a quarter of the money, $250,000, will be spent nationally on research grants to develop better diagnosis, treatment, cancer prevention and cures. Ninety percent of money raised by the foundation goes directly to programs, she said.

The $1 million raised last fall represents nearly a third of all money raised since the Orange County charity runs began in 1992. Before, the highest amount raised in the Orange County race was $577,000 in 1997. “Every [Komen] organization has seen race participation and fund-raising skyrocket in last two years,” Pacini said. Nationally, the group has raised $136 million in the 16 years since it was founded by the sister of a young mother who died of breast cancer.

The foundation’s cause is eradicating breast cancer in part by ensuring that women get early screening and treatment.

“A mammogram can take the same amount of time as getting a manicure,” Pacini said, adding that many women neglect the exam.

The local chapter also plans a major advertising campaign to remind and educate women about the need for early screening through self-examination, clinical exam and mammography.

Runners in the Race for the Cure pay an entry fee and also raise donations through pledges and corporate sponsorships. The organizers sell T-shirts, food and other paraphernalia as well at the site of the race in Newport Beach.

Among the recipients of grants this year will be Healing Odyssey of Irvine, a program providing a weekend retreat and follow-up support for breast cancer survivors, and community clinics in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Garden Grove.

Komen has a fund to provide cancer screening for women with little or no health insurance.

This year, the group for the first time will run a “Mammogramathon” that targets at-risk, underserved women, Pacini said. The group will set up a mobile center in community centers in North and South County in an effort to reach women who normally would not see a doctor for screening. It will provide clinical breast exams, mammograms and other diagnostic services, and a consultation with a surgeon.