Genesis to Hold Second Gather for the Cure Event Supporting Breast Imaging Voucher Program
Registration is underway now for the second annual Gather for the Cure event to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to be held October 8, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Whispering Pines Indoor Shelter, Scott County Park. Register to attend at www.genesishealth.com/gather.
Gather for the Cure is an opportunity to celebrate breast cancer survivorship, remember those lives lost to breast cancer, learn about available programs and resources and raise money to support the Genesis Voucher Program. The program provides free breast imaging to qualifying patients. The event is presented by the Genesis Foundation.
Attendees will be able to visit vendor tables and the Pink Heals firetruck, participate in Living Proof art sessions and join in a one-mile casual walk in the park. There will be live music, food and beverages and prize drawings.
Gold Sponsors of the event are Radiology Group, P.C., S.C. and IHMVCU; Silver Sponsors are Dr. Angela Stork – Genesis Health Group Surgical Associates, Silvis, Mel Foster Co. and RSM US LLP; while Bronze Sponsors are Cobham Mission Systems and Cintas. Additional support is coming from Print Sponsor Dimensional Graphics and Media Sponsor KWQC-TV.
The event is free but registration is encouraged and donations accepted. There is a fee to participate in the walk – $20 until August 31 (guarantees a commemorative T-shirt), then $25 after August 31 (guarantees a commemorative T-shirt). Walk registration is online and will be cut off after September 16. Retired Isabel Bloom sculptures and the newest Isabel Bloom “Fight Like a Girl” ornament will be for sale at the event.
In addition, “In Honor” or “In Memory” yard signs may be pre-ordered online for $50, no later than September 23. These signs will be lined up along the walk route and can be taken home at the conclusion of the event. Money raised through the event will be used by the Genesis Foundation to help fill a funding gap created when the Susan G. Komen organization ended financial support to voucher programs in the Quad-Cities region in 2021.
Because cost should never be a barrier to accessing essential life-saving breast imaging, the Genesis Foundation is committed to raising the funds needed to meet the demand – an estimated $50,000 annually. “There isn’t a single person who hasn’t been touched by breast cancer,’’ said Diane Koster, Genesis Women’s Health Grant Program Specialist. “This event helps us continue to build support for our community to fight breast cancer with the hope to continue for many years to come, until we never lose someone again.”
Genesis has been administering the Voucher Program since 2001, providing no-cost mammograms and ultrasounds in a timely and efficient manner.
From July 2020 through December 2021:
• 328 individuals accessed the Voucher Program (148 Iowa residents, 180
Illinois residents)
• 73 patients received multiple exams covered by the Voucher Program
• 215 screening mammograms covered
• 81 diagnostic mammograms covered
• 95 diagnostic breast ultrasounds covered
• $58,400 paid out to cover breast health services
According to the American Cancer Society, there were an estimated 2,770 new cases of female breast cancer in Iowa and 11,340 new cases of female breast cancer in Illinois in 2021.
“These are not just statistics, these are real people. Your mother, sister, daughter, friend,” said Koster. “Together, we can impact these numbers and decrease deaths from breast cancer by supporting the Voucher Program.”
For more information and to register to attend the event, register for the walk or order a sign or Isabel Bloom ornament, go to www.genesishealth.com/gather. In addition to funds raised through Gather for the Cure, the Voucher Program also is supported by financial gifts to the Genesis Kenneth H. McKay M.D. Center for Breast Health. All new and increased gifts to the Center for Breast Health may qualify for a 1:1 match by the Foundation’s Jim Victor Vision Fund.
