Next Steps

Local and Global Impact

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement.

Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure^® series and the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure^®, we have invested more than $1.9 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.

National Capital Area Grants Program
Thanks to the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure^®, Susan G. Komen™ is able to impact the lives of breast cancer patients in the National Capital Area as well as women across the globe. Up to 75 percent of funds from the Komen Global Race for the Cure supports local breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs throughout the National Capital Area, including Washington, D.C., and parts of Virginia and Maryland. The remaining funds support Susan G. Komen’s work around the globe, sharing knowledge and experience and to funding education and breast health services in regions where few exist. For more information, go to komen.org.

Through a competitive grant process, the Komen Global Race provides funding to not-for-profit organizations providing breast health services such as mobile mammography and other free or low-cost screening. In addition, the Komen Global Race provides grants to organizations offering treatment assistance and patient support services. All local grants are based on a community needs assessment that identifies and targets existing “gaps” in breast health and breast cancer services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. We believe the key to eradicating this disease is through education, and we want to continuously spread our message of early detection.

Local Grant Recipients
On March 2, 2011, Susan G. Komen for the Cure^® announced a new $4.5 million investment in breast health education and outreach programs – the largest single-year investment in the history of the local event.

“The big impact we will be able to make on breast health with this investment is a bold statement from our community that we remain united behind our promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Before last year's Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure^®, Komen unveiled an analysis of the state of breast health in the National Capital Area. The study found that women diagnosed with breast cancer in this area are still more likely to die from the disease than the national average, despite increased awareness about the disease.

Read the full story, including a full listing of this year’s grantees.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Promise Fund
The Susan G. Komen Global Promise Fund is dedicated to reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer death rates are highest. We'll do so with projects that:

• Increase breast health awareness and access to detection and treatment of breast cancer
• Recruit and fund medical staff
• Provide services to breast cancer survivors and their families
• Recruit and train lay ambassadors to promote breast cancer awareness and treatment messages in underserved areas around the globe.

Our promise becomes mortally critical when you consider that every 69 seconds a woman dies of breast cancer. It will strike 1.3 million women this year and kill almost 500,000, making breast cancer the leading cancer killer of women worldwide. In the next 25 years, another 25 million people will be diagnosed and another 10 million will die, with most of these deaths occurring in countries with limited resources, including 30 countries in Africa and Asia.