WOMEN'S INFORMATION NETWORK
AGAINST BREAST CANCER
536 S. Second Ave., Suite K - Covina, CA 91723
Renee Gaines - Director of Public Relations -626-332-2255- mail@winabc.org
MEDIA ADVISORY
PRESS CONFERENCE
WRAPPED IN "SPIRIT SHAWLS" FOR THE HOLIDAYS
UNDERSERVED BREAST CANCER PATIENTS RECEIVE
SPECIAL "GIFTS" OF HOPE
LAC+USC, Spirit
Shawl.com, Foothill Transit and Women's Information Network Against Breast Cancer will be presenting breast cancer patients with special holiday gifts. On December 14, 2000 at 10:00am at the front entrance LAC+USC Women's & Children's Hospital 1240 N. Mission Road, Los Angeles, California a press conference will be held announcing the new "Holiday" program for Latina and Indigent and Underserved breast cancer patients in Los Angeles County.
LAC+USC, SpiritShawl.com, Foothill Transit and WIN Against Breast Cancer are all joining forces to make the holidays a little easier for 50 breast cancer patients who are receiving chemotherapy treatments this month. Spirit Shawls, bus vouchers and a bag of books will be donated to women in breast cancer treatment at this medical center.
Speaking and presenting "gifts" to patients will be theatrical actresses Ruth Livier (Showtime Networks Television's "Resurrection Blvd.") and Kimberly Williams (ABC-TV's "Relativity", Hallmark Hall of Fame's "Jake's Women") Both women are committed to encouraging Latina women to obtain routine mammography, reminding them also that early detection is the key to protection.
The Spirit Shawl is a comfy, cozy, fleecy wrap designed to restore one's spirit and snuggle in during cancer treatments, hospital visits, or at home. Designed to bring solace and relieve stress, the luxurious Spirit Shawls are embroidered with an inspirational message and blessed for well being. Developed by hospice volunteer Susan McGuire and wardrobe stylist, Jane Doctor, Spirit Shawls began as a way to comfort their close friends during difficult times. For more information contact
www.spiritshawl.com or call 818-501-1223."Spirit Shawls are a compassion statement, " says Ms. McGuire. "Through the Spirit Shawl Holiday Donation Program we provide a way for women to directly touch the heart of another woman by making her feel special."
Foothill Transit has recently joined forces with WIN Against Breast Cancer to increase breast cancer awareness through their interior bus billboards education and outreach program launching January 2001. In addition, they are also providing transportation vouchers, a lifeline for underserved and indigent patients, to assist those who must travel daily and weekly to receive their breast cancer treatment. More about Foothill Transit is available on
www.foothilltransit.org. "One of Foothill's most important goals is to serve our community, and we are proud to partner with WIN ABC and LAC+USC in the education of the fight against breast cancer," says Julie M. Austin, Executive Director, Foothill Transit.
Women's Information Network Against Breast Cancer (WIN ABC) is a Los Angeles County based national nonprofit organization. WIN Against Breast Cancer has been a stalwart in the breast cancer community and in patient advocacy throughout the United States. WIN ABC was founded in 1994 by Elizabeth Mullen, President/CEO when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. WIN ABC currently assists the public through the Breast Aid® Education and Outreach and Breast Buddy® Breast Care Programs by providing individualized support and disseminating culturally appropriate, relevant information to newly diagnosed patients their families and the public. Their extensive web site,
www.winabc.org, offers extensive information including questions to ask the doctor and specific breast cancer related material. Many of the educational materials provided to the public free of charge, are available in both in English and Spanish.
"The holidays can be a difficult time for breast cancer patients. We hope that these "gifts" will provide them with encouragement, support and knowing that there are many resources available in their community." Says Ms. Mullen of WIN Against Breast Cancer.
The Los Angles County -University of Southern California Healthcare Network, a Level 1 trauma center and the largest teaching hospital in the nation, is the primary teaching hospital of the Keck School of Medicine (formerly USC School of Medicine). It is the largest community provider of healthcare in the community and known as the "flagship" of the six hospitals in the health care system operated by the Department of Health Services. It services many indigent and underserved patients within its vast array of emergency, inpatient and outpatient services. Within those services it sees approximately 3,300 women for possible breast cancer at it's Women's and Children's Hospital. "Our patients are provided the very best of medical care within the Los Angles County Health Care System," stated Adelaide De La Cerda, Public Information Officer for the LAC
& USC Medical Healthcare Network.
LAC+USC Medical Center and WIN Against Breast Cancer assist many indigent and underserved patients with breast cancer throughout each year. These patients are provided state-of-the-art care within the Los Angeles County Health Care System.
Breast cancer is a disease that knows no ethnic, socioeconomic, age, gender or cultural boundaries. Surviving breast cancer, however, is a more uneven experience. Among the estimated 4,650 people who die from breast cancer in California alone annually, a disproportionate number are indigent and underserved, older women with inadequate or no medical insurance. African American and Latina women are over-represented in this group (American Cancer Society, 1999).
Media Contact: Adelaide De La Cerda- LAC+USC Medical Center 323-226-6899 or for more information, call Renee Gaines 626-332-2255 or email
mail@winabc.org or visit the WIN ABC website
www.winabc.org.
