For the fifth year, the Columbus affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has made a grant to the college’s Community Service Programs (CSP). The grant, this year totaling more than $69,000, helps to fund the Healthy Adult Project, which helps provide free breast exams for uninsured or underinsured women older than 40. The grant’s outreach covers 10 counties in Southeastern Ohio, largely through the use of CSP’s Mobile Health Unit. The grant, which has increased each year, allows women to receive medical screenings that would otherwise not be available.

According to Janice Smith, Healthy Adult Project coordinator, the program serves people with different needs and backgrounds.

“Some women do not have access to health care, and some just can’t afford it, so we bring the care to them. Some of these people have not been to a doctor in 10 to 15 years, and it is a tremendous service to be able to provide,” Smith says.

Melanie Moynan-Smith, CSP nurse practitioner, says that women that benefit from the program have appreciated the service it provides them.

“As a nurse practitioner provider on the mobile unit,” says Moynan-Smith, “I teach women about breast self-examinations and perform clinical exams. I encounter many women in Southeastern Ohio who are uninsured. Frequently, when the door is closed and I’m reviewing their histories, women thank us for the breast cancer screening we provide.”

“Our program has identified many women in need of health care, and their numbers are growing.”

OU-COM began its relationship with the Komen Foundation in 2000 because of the efforts of Marty Bayha, an administrative assistant in OU-COM’s Department of Family Medicine and a five-year breast cancer survivor.

Kathy Trace, director of CSP, says that the Komen Foundation has given CSP the ability to grow and serve more people each year through augmenting the efforts of CSP’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Project.

“We love working with this organization,” Trace says.

The grant allows not only for more health screenings but also for the implementation of educational programs in high schools, senior centers and other public locales. CSP believes education is crucial in establishing healthy lifestyles.

“High school girls need to know about these things. Breast education shouldn’t start at age 40,” says Anne Pearch, a CSP community health nurse coordinator who has spent much of her nursing career on women’s health issues.

In addition to free screenings and education, the Healthy Adult Project refers women for mammograms and further diagnostic testing or treatment. In addition to grants to breast cancer outreach and treatment programs, the Komen Foundation hosts the “Race for the Cure” in municipalities across the country. The race is one of the foundation’s annual fundraisers.

The foundation’s Race for the Cure in Columbus will he held Saturday, May 14.

“The Columbus Race for the Cure has raised more than $6 million for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment,” says Bayha. “Much more is needed so that women can get the help they need.”

OU-COM is putting together a team to participate in the race. Trace is heading up the team and says that people may donate to the team until May 13. Anyone interested in participating in the race should contact Trace at (740) 593-9364.

“This is one way we can show our support and appreciation for all that they do in this area,” Trace says.

“The event is amazing to see. Twenty-five thousand people are anticipated to participate in the event, held this year in downtown Columbus. It gives you an idea of how many people are affected by the disease and the number of individuals supporting the Race for the Cure.”

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1982 by Nancy Goodman Brinker, whose sister, Susan Goodman Komen, died of breast cancer at age 36. Since its inception, the organization has grown to include tens of thousands of volunteers at 117 national affiliates and three international sites. The foundation has raised more than $740 million, which has been used for innovative cancer research and community outreach programs as well as diagnostic efforts. In 2001, Komen was named one of the 100 best charities by Worth magazine.