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YWCA of Greater Lafayette receives $287,000 grant

The Susan G. Komen Central Indiana affiliate is giving the YWCA of Greater Lafayette $286,907. The grant funds provide screening and diagnostic services for women in Tippecanoe and 22 other counties.

Heidi Kauffman is director of the YWCA Women’s Cancer Program. She says the local effort is saving lives.

“Since January 1st of this year, ten women have been diagnosed with breast cancer through our program. We really hope that the trend slows a little bit. It feels rather overwhelming right now.”

Kauffman says four of the ten women are under the age of 50.

Michelle Arms is a cancer survivor who benefited from YWCA’s program several years ago. She was unemployed at the time and her doctor recommended she get a mammogram.

“I wouldn’t be here today without them. I would not have gone through all of the tests. Being unemployed, I would have waited to get a job and have the insurance, and who knows when that would have been.”

The annual Race for the Cure fundraiser provides the money for 14 local programs throughout Indiana.

Central Indiana Executive Director Dana Curish says the event raised $1.3 million last year, which still was not enough to meet all the requests. She says breast cancer affects one-in-eight women.

“It could be your mother, your sister, your daughter, your coworker, your friend, or maybe even you. If we all join together, we can achieve our vision, which is a world in which no one has to die from breast cancer.”

This year’s Race for the Cure is in Indianapolis, Saturday, April 20th. More information about it is HERE.

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