The national Avon Foundation has offices in cities which plan the annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Last year this walk included four thousand walkers, and several hundred volunteers and crew which plan the walk around Chicago. The office contacted the Urban Health Institute in October, after our Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force (MCBCTF) press conference and report release, to better understand how the money Avon allocates to the Sinai Health System is used and to use that information to encourage their walkers raise the $1800 which is required to participate as a walker in the Avon Walk. In late November, the local office, which consists of 11 dedicated women, came to Sinai and visited us. We gave them a tour of our hospital, discussed issues around walker recruitment, discussed breast cancer and our Avon funded Patient Navigation program, and shared some contacts with breast cancer support groups such as the Sister’s Network and other friends we have made while researching our recommendations as part of the MCBCTF. The Avon women were with us for nearly the whole day and they left impressed with what we have been doing with the money donated by so many caring Chicagoans for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. |
