The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade seeks to improve breast cancer outcomes and reduce disparities in survival rates at the community and national level. Our strategic grant making reflects: a holistic and place-based approach in high-need areas throughout the United States; a commitment to enabling access to medical advances and support services for breast cancer patients, particularly those from vulnerable populations; and a commitment to investing in research on the prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of breast cancer.

The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade focuses on care and seeks to help across the continuum of breast cancer – not only helping those who are at risk or diagnosed with the disease today, but also research into finding better treatments for tomorrow.

Boston 2016 Beneficiaries

• Tufts Medical Center received a grant of $75,000 to provide patient navigation services to more than 200 Chinese patients in underserved communities in Boston who otherwise would not have access to care.
• Community Servings received a grant of $100,000 to provide health education and serve more than 33,000 nutritious meals to 100 breast cancer patients in the Boston area.
• Silent Spring received a grant of $100,000 to conduct research on the environmental and chemical factors that contribute to breast cancer.
• Boston Medical Center received a grant of $125,000 to expand their patient navigation program to reach more women in the most underserved neighborhoods Boston, and to strengthen partnerships with legal aid organizations to help women with the financial and social challenges that emerge during cancer treatment.
• YWCA Malden received a grant of $240,000 on behalf of the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program, which will serve various community organizations in the Boston area including the YWCA of Malden, MA; Witness Project of Connecticut in Bridgeport, CT; the YMCA of Bangor, ME; the YMCA of Northern Rhode Island in Woonsocket, RI; and the YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts in New Bedford, MA.
• University of Massachusetts Medical School received a research grant of $300,000 to explore new ways to treat aggressive forms of breast cancer that currently do not respond well to treatment and to examine a mutation in gene IRS-2 to determine impacts on patient outcomes.
• Massachusetts General Hospital, home of the Avon Center of Excellence, received a grant of $750,000 to support two research projects that identify new targets for postpartum breast cancers in young women and examine diagnostics and therapeutics for metastatic breast cancer. Additionally it will support large-scale breast health education efforts, and one-on-one patient navigation in underserved communities in Boston.