The Coastal Georgia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure will award $345,000 for community services that will fund everything from educational programs to screening mammograms, including Effingham Health System’s comprehensive education and screening program.

This brings the total investment in the local coastal community to over $1.3 million dollars since the local affiliate’s inception.

“Through our grants program, we are able to provide life-saving services to Coastal Georgia residents that might otherwise fall through the cracks,” said Beth Desloges, Executive Director  of the Coastal Georgia Affiliate. “This year we focused our funding on increasing access to care for underinsured women, particularly rural, African American and Latina populations.”

The Komen Coastal Georgia Affiliate is one of 123 Komen Affiliates worldwide — all pledging to relieve suffering from the disease and to end breast cancer forever. Through local events and activities, the Komen Coastal Georgia 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 Coastal Georgia community, the Komen Coastal Georgia 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.

Grant funding is generated through a number of Affiliate fundraisers held throughout the year, the largest of which is the Susan G. Komen Savannah Race for the Cure®, which is scheduled for April 13. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds from all funds generated stays in Coastal Georgia and is used to fund programs that address the specific unmet breast cancer needs in Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh counties.

Last year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Affiliates—working in concert with local organizations—awarded more than $93 million in needs-based community grants. That’s in addition to the 25 percent of their income Affiliates contribute toward the many millions the organization invests each year in promising research.