The Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund is Georgia's premier Breast Cancer Advocacy organization. Our members lobby legislators on both the local and federal level to insure that laws protecting patients and survivors a given proper attention, that monies earmarked for research are distributed to researchers working in evidence-based theories and that women who are uninsured or underinsured will have a resource both for breast and cervical cancer screenings, treatment and prevention.
Our Mission is three fold
To Educate local, state, and national legislators and the public about all aspects of this devastating disease: the importance of early detection; lifestyle changes, treatment, and research;
To Advocate at the state and national levels for increased breast cancer research funding, health care reform, and legislation that leads to the end of the disease; and
To Eradicate breast cancer – “We can’t wait for a cure!”
The Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition (GBCC) and the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (GBCCF) were founded in January, 1994 by Ruth Eldredge, Toby Sidman and Alba Tutnauer-three breast cancer survivors who wanted to give Georgians an organizational platform from which to mount the fight against breast cancer. Our mission is three-fold: to advocate, to educate and eventually to eradicate the disease of breast cancer. Our supporters work to educate breast cancer survivors and their friends and families, women's health advocates, the Georgia legislators, and the serious impact of the breast cancer epidemic on the lives of women and men.
Historically, the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition (GBCC) focused on advocacy and legislative issues while the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (GBCCF) developed and promoted educational programming. As we celebrate our 15th Anniversary in 2009, both organizations will work as one unit under the domain of the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund to accomplish our mission of educating the public and working to eradicate breast cancer.
In the last fifteen years, GBCCF has grown in a number of important ways - the number and quality of the GBCCF contributors has escalated, the events which benefited the GBCCF are both more newsworthy and more remunerative, the relationships we’ve built with both state and national representatives are helpful in our advocacy efforts, and the educational programs that we’ve sponsored are increasingly effective and drawing a wider audience.
Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund
We have office hours available by appointment. Additionally, GBCCF is purly a Volunteer Organization, as such someone may not take your call in person 24/7. However, we check voicemail and email frequently and will return your call/email as soon as possible.
Our Board Members
Executive Committee
Ruth Eldredge - President
Michael Koziol - Vice President
Marjorie Kellogg - Secretary
Wendy Rohssen - Treasurer
Myra Belote
Sonja Natasha Brown
Marianne Chung
Ilene Cohen
Delma De La Fuente
Amy Feintuch
Sara Hanna
Daniel E. Hoodin
Karen R. Korshak
Jodi McMahon
Ginger Smith
Nancy J. Whaley
Georgians can now purchase a Breast Cancer prestige license plate for $25. These special tags are available any time during the year at your county tag office. No need to wait for your annual registration renewal.
Buy yours today and help create awareness about breast cancer. The proceeds from the sale of these special license plates will increase access to breast cancer screening, education and treatment services for indigent Georgians.
For more infomation, visit Department of Motor Vehicle website
If you or a loved one is facing a Breast Cancer Diagnosis, it can be unclear which non-profit or cancer organization to call for what.
If you'd like to become a local breast cancer advocate or volunteer:
Georgia Breast CaIf you'd like to become a local breast cancer advocate or volunteer:
Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund: 404-633-6499
If you need a ride to a doctor's appointment:
The
American Cancer Society: 1-800-ACS-2345
Breast
Friends: 404-843-0677
If you are a woman under the age of 40 who has, or fears she has Breast Cancer:
The Young Survival Coalition: 404-250-6508
If you need assistance with a wig or prosthesis:
The American Cancer Society: 1-800-ACS-2345
If you or someone you know needs a free or low cost screening mammogram: (Call with county of residence to inquire about qualification) Georgia Cancer Control Section, Division of Public Health: (404) 657-6611 $35!
If you would like to become a member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition: Visit: www.stopbreastcancer.org. Your annual membership fee is only $35!Cancer has a lot of associated "jargon" and unique terms.
- Anthracyclines - A class of chemotherapy drugs that is highly effective against breast cancer.
- Aromatase inhibitors - A class of drugs used to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer. They help to prevent estrogen from forming. So tumors that depend on estrogen, also called estrogen receptor-positive tumors, are deprived of the "fuel" they need to grow.
- Biomarkers - Substances, often certain genes or proteins, used to measure the spread of a disease like cancer. They are also used to predict how well a person might respond to a particular treatment.
- Bone mineral density - A test used to measure bone health in a specific bone or bones, usually the spine, hips, and wrists. Bone health is a concern in women whose breast cancer is being treated with aromatase inhibitors.
- Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer - The female hormone estrogen serves as a fuel for the growth of some breast tumors. Such tumors are said to be estrogen receptor-positive. The receptor sites, which work like doorways to the tumors' cells, allow the hormone to enter.
- Genes - The basic unit of heredity. There are approximately 30,000 genes in each cell of the human body. The combination of all genes makes up the blueprint for the human body and its functions.
- HER2-positive breast cancer - HER2 is a gene that makes a protein, also called HER2, that controls cell division. If a breast cancer cell has too much HER2-that is, if it's HER2 positive-it tends to grow more rapidly.
- Hormone receptor-negative tumors - Breast cancer tumors that lack receptors, or entryways, for female hormones. Such tumors do not depend on hormones for their growth. These breast tumors tend to grow more quickly than hormone receptor-positive tumors.
- Hormone receptor-positive tumors - Breast cancer tumors that depend on female hormones for their growth. These tumors tend to grow more slowly than hormone receptor-negative tumors and respond better to hormonal treatments.
- Invasive breast cancer - Any breast cancer that has spread outside the milk ducts, where it originated, into the fatty tissues of the breast or other parts of the body.
- Locally advanced breast cancer - This term indicates one of two situations: the tumor is confined to the breast but is too large to be effectively removed, or the tumor has spread to nearby areas outside the breast such as lymph nodes in the armpit, neck, or chest wall.
- Lumpectomy - Surgery to remove a tumor and conserve the breast.
- Lymph nodes - A linked system of small bean-shaped structures throughout the body that helps filter out and destroy bacteria and other toxic substances.
- Mastectomy - Surgery to remove one or both breasts.
- Metastases/ Metastatic - Cancer that has spread from its original tumor site to other parts of the body.
- Neutropenia - A low white blood cell count that can increase the risk of infection. Neutropenia is a complication of chemotherapy experienced by some patients.
- Progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer - Cancer cells that have receptors, or doorways, on their surface that allow the female hormone progesterone to enter and stimulate their growth.
- Triple-negative breast cancer - Women are said to have triple-negative breast cancer when they lack the receptors, or entryways, for the hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as the HER2 protein. Tumors that do not depend on these hormones for their growth tend to grow more quickly than hormone receptor-positive tumors.
- The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund: www.stopbreastcancer.org
- Thank you to Mattress4You (www.Mattress4You.com), who is a Silver Level Sponsor of the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund in 2008-2009. Currently, Mattress4You provides us with our working office and storage space. Thanks to Jack & Karen Korshack.
- Thank you to It's the Journey, Inc. (the Avon Breast Cancer 2-Day Walk) for a generous grant for 2008.
- Thank you to the Georgia Cancer Coalition Fund, for a generous grant for our Health Fair Program for 2008/09.