NUHEALTH FOUNDATION RECEIVES $75,000 FOR NUMC’S BREAST CENTER, ONE OF NINE GRANTS AWARDED AT THE AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2012
PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055
NUHEALTH FOUNDATION RECEIVES $75,000 FOR NUMC’S BREAST CENTER, ONE OF NINE GRANTS AWARDED AT THE AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER
Funds will assist NUMC in ensuring that all women and men without insurance or resources continue to have access to high quality breast services and care
East Meadow, NY…Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announced that the NuHealth Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the NuHealth System, has received a $75,000 grant, one of nine grants awarded at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer by the Avon Foundation, to help support patient navigation at the Nassau University Medical Center’s (NUMC) breast center. The walk raised more than $8.3 million to advance access to care and research to prevent and ultimately find a cure for breast cancer. Chris Mancuso, RN, nurse coordinator for NUMC’s breast screening program, accepted the check at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer closing ceremony on Sunday October 21, 2012 in New York City. Four of the nine grants awarded at Closing Ceremony, including the grant for NUMC, will strengthen the Avon Safety Net Hospital program, a network of more than 100 hospitals and community clinics across the country supported by the Avon Foundation to ensure women and men without insurance or resources have access to high quality breast health services.
“We are grateful to the Avon Foundation for Women, for providing the NuHealth Foundation with a generous grant of $75,000, to help us better serve our uninsured and underinsured NUMC breast center patients and help to save lives through a patient navigation program,” said Gianelli. “These funds will assist us in ensuring that all women and men without insurance or resources continue to have access to high quality breast services and care. By beginning the navigation process in the community, our aim is to recruit and enroll women right in their neighborhoods for our screening program.”
Deidra Parrish Williams, executive director of the NuHealth Foundation, stated: “Because Long Island has the unfortunate distinction of being a high risk region for breast cancer, it is especially important that we continue to enhance the capacity of NUMC’s breast health center. The Avon Foundation’s grant will significantly help support our efforts.”
CEO of Avon Products, Inc., Sheri McCoy – who served as the honorary captain of Team Avon Sales Representatives and employees – walked in the event in honor of her mother, a breast cancer survivor. “As CEO of Avon Products, I am so proud of our efforts to fight this disease,” said McCoy. “Here in our hometown of New York, many of our employees and Sales Representatives walked, crewed, volunteered, and cheered on Team Avon. We came together this weekend to show New York and the world that we are In It to End It.”
“This is wonderful news and women will benefit as a result of the Avon Gant for the patient navigation program. Women will be enrolled into the screening program and provided with a convenient appointment on our mammography van,” said Chris Mancuso, RN. “This early connection to the screening process will allow our patients to begin to develop a trust and understanding of the breast health care process. The navigator will then become a resource that the client will know and trust for her appointments and follow up exams if need be.”
The tenth annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer season, continued with the Avon Walk New York this past weekend and raised more than $8.3 million to advance access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. The Avon Walk New York, attracted more than 3,400 participants from 46 states and Washington, D.C. – as well as Denmark, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Canada and Bermuda – including 401 breast cancer survivors, who joined together to raise lifesaving funds and awareness for breast cancer.
Photo: At the check presentation, Chris Mancuso, RN, director cancer screening program (center) was joined by Marc Hurlbert, PhD, executive director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade and executive secretary to the Avon Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and by Sheri McCoy, CEO of Avon Products, Inc.
ABOUT NUHEALTH FOUNDATION
The NuHealth Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization created in 2007 with a sole purpose: to generate philanthropic funds needed to enable patients of the NuHealth System to enjoy the best possible care. To date, the Foundation has procured funding for state-of-the-art medical equipment, innovative clinical care, and beautiful capital renovations – all of which provide meaningful improvements to the quality of our patients’ experience, and more importantly, to their long-term prospects for healthy living. With ongoing support from general donors, these enhancements will continue. Our patients deserve no less. The NuHealth System includes Nassau University Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility and four community-based family health centers, all providing quality care to hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders, including those who are underserved, uninsured, and often overlooked.
About the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer New York
During the Avon Walk New York, which is a noncompetitive event, women and men 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, October 20, with an early morning Opening Ceremony at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84 in New York City. Following the ceremony, walkers began their journey, traveling through scenic New York and concluding at the Avon Walk “Wellness Village” at Randall’s Island. The “Wellness Village” featured two-person pink sleeping tents, hot showers, full hot meals, entertainment, volunteer medical services and comprehensive support services, along with leisure activities such as relaxing yoga to stretch out the muscles and a spa zone with mini-back-and-foot-massages. On Sunday, October 21, walkers completed the walk, ending back at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84, where thousands of family members and friends greeted them and shared in a celebratory and moving Closing Ceremony, including the awarding of new grants.
To participate in the Avon Walk New York, each walker raised a minimum of $1,800 in donations. The Avon Foundation for Women [a 501(c)(3) public charity] manages the funds raised, which it awards 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.
Since its launch in 2003, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series has raised more than $470 million through the dedication of nearly 180,000 participating women and men from across the country, including thousands of Avon Associates and Representatives. The Avon Walk New York is the eighth event of the 2012 10th birthday season, and registration is still open for the remaining 2012 Avon Walk in Charlotte, NC (Oct. 27-28) and for the 2013 season. For more information on the Avon Walk or to donate, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 888-541-WALK. To learn more about the Avon Foundation for Women visit www.avonfoundation.org.
ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life. Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community. By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.
For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.
