SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/14/10 -- Determined to save lives and end breast cancer forever, the San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has awarded 19 grants totaling $1.2 million to programs providing breast cancer services in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"To meet needs we have discovered right here in our community, this year's grant slate specifically addresses unmet breast health needs within our community, deliver the life-saving message of early detection and provide assistance to medically-underserved breast cancer patients and their families," said Maria Sousa, Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate Executive Director.

"Komen for the Cure has clearly made access to emergency financial assistance for low income women a top priority," said Mike Smith, executive director of Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. "We share their vision of social justice and are honored to partner with them to provide safety net services to marginalized and underserved women battling breast cancer."

The Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate is part of the 125-Affiliate network of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. The Affiliates are the face and voice of Komen for the Cure's global breast cancer movement in communities around the world. Through local events and activities, the Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate mobilizes and educates thousands of community members while raising funds to support community-based breast cancer programs.

In order to ensure it is funding programs that address the specific unmet breast cancer needs of the Bay Area, the Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate works with local health care professionals and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment. This community profile, a standard practice of all Komen Affiliates, is then used to establish a local grant application and review process consistent with the organization's standards and mission.

Major Grant Recipients include:

Alexander Valley Regional Medical Center, Breast Friends for Life (Sonoma)

Alliance Medical Center, Rural Latina Breast Cancer Screening (Sonoma)

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Breast Cancer Awareness among Tongans Project (San Mateo)

Asociacion Hispana del Cancer, Latina Breast Cancer Outreach and Early Detection Program (Contra Costa, Alameda)

Breast Cancer Connections, Gabriella Patser Program (SF Bay Area)

Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, Financial Assistance for Uninsured (San Francisco, San Mateo)

Circulo de Vida Cancer Support and Resource Center, In-Hospital Program (SF Bay Area)

Delta Memorial Hospital Foundation, Save a Life Sister (Contra Costa)

Hospice by the Bay, The Breast Cancer Care Fund (Marin, San Mateo, Sonoma, San Francisco)

Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley, Breast Cancer Screening and Awareness (Santa Clara)

Latina Breast Cancer Agency, Mujeres Cuidando Mujeres/Women Caring for Women (San Mateo, San Francisco)

Lyon Martin Health Services, Breast Health Program (Alameda, San Francisco)

Marin Center for Independent Living, Breast Cancer Benefits Planning Program (Marin)

Ravenswood Family Health Center, Breast Health and Mammography (San Mateo)

Samaritan House, Samaritan House Breast Care Clinic (San Mateo)

Shanti, LifeLines (San Francisco)

Southeast Health Center, Got Screened (San Francisco)

The Latina Center, Círculos de Mujeres/ Women's Circles (Alameda, Contra Costa)

Thesecondopinion, Breast Cancer Project (SF Bay Area)

For more information on the specific grants awarded, visit www.komensf.org.

Last year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Affiliates -- working in concert with local organizations -- awarded more than $80 million in needs-based community grants. That's in addition to the 25 percent of their income that Affiliates contribute toward the many millions the organization invests each year in promising research.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever, and in 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate is part of the world's largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Through events like the Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure, the San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate has invested over $12 million in community breast cancer programs in the nine Bay Area counties of Sonoma, Napa, West Solano, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara since our inception in 1987 - 2010. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stays in the San Francisco B Bay Area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research. For more information, visit www.komensf.org or call 415-397-8812.

The 2009 Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure® will be held September 26, 2010 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Join us by visiting us online at www.komensf.org or calling 415-397-8812.

Editor Note: Photo of grant recipients available

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1281396

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