Lucille Latham
Coffee County Family Services

Grantee Spotlight

July 2009

Together We Make a Difference

For the eighth consecutive year, the Avon Foundation for Women contributed to Christiana Care Health System’s Community Outreach - Helen F. Graham Cancer, for its breast cancer awareness program supporting its work on this important health issue and recognizing the program’s excellence.

The grant from the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund helps continue our work to encourage, educate and aid those in need. Christiana Care’s programs focus on initial breast cancer screenings as well as promoting annual screenings. For example, the Helping Hands for Breast Health program provides reminder letters to those who were screened the previous year. Hats Off for Breast Health provides an interactive session for women to discuss and face reasons why they fail to complete screenings.

Christiana Care’s Outreach team and Avon Helping Hands for Breast Health Program have collaborated with the Avon District Managers and Sales Representatives of Delaware. Each year, we reach out to the managers of local Avon representatives. Their involvement ranges from meetings to one-on-one distribution of education materials.

In 2008, Deb Wilson, Avon District Manager, once again agreed to have our Avon Outreach Coordinator Kristin Barnes reach out to her network of 500 representatives. Kristin works with Deb and her team to educate them on breast health, screenings and breast cancer statistics, so that Avon representatives can help educate their own clients. "This great opportunity helps me assure that our representatives learn about care for themselves, sisters, mothers, aunts, neighbors and encourages them to be an advocate for others to practice breast health -- see a doctor, get an annual screening,”  says Deb.

Kristin also introduces sales representatives to our “Pink” toolkits, consisting of a pink purse and breast health information.  These toolkits are a fun way to educate the representatives on breast health and the community resources available to them and their customers.

Kristin and her Outreach co-workers have introduced several fun and engaging ideas on how these sales representatives can help their customers, including:

¨              Hosting a Hat’s Off to Breast Cancer Myths event for existing customers and their friends.  The outreach team from the Avon Helping Hands Program serves as presenters for the program.

¨              Inserting breast health information in Avon product order bags.

¨              Navigating customers in need of services to our Avon Helping Hands Community Health Outreach Coordinator.

Thanks to this outreach collaboration as well as our reminder system, women are getting screened and re-screened. To date, we have reached more than 8,000 women, bringing breast health education, resources and support into their lives.