Beneficiaries

We are so proud to work with the following 10 local beneficiaries of the Texas Mamma Jamma Ride. These agencies provide vital care and services to thousands of people with breast cancer 365 days a year.

Austin Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® 
In 1982, Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. Over twenty-five years later, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is the world’s largest breast cancer organization. With survivors and activists in 125 cities and communities, Komen for the Cure is the most progressive grassroots organization fighting breast cancer today.

Through events like the Susan G. Komen Austin Race for the Cure®, the Austin Affiliate invested over $950,000 in 2008 in community breast cancer programs in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stay in the Greater Austin Area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research through the national organization.

Breast Cancer Resource Center
The Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas (BCRC) is a local, grassroots non-profit begun by seven women who met in their doctors’ offices and pledged to come together after treatment to create an organization offering women the services they themselves had needed. The BCRC now serves over 5,000 Central Texas women annually offering a wide range of services and resources. The mission of the BCRC is to be a centralized source of information, education and support that empowers those affected by breast cancer to navigate through diagnosis, treatment, recovery and beyond as active, knowledgeable participants in their healthcare. The BCRC currently has five Certified Patient Navigators who are also survivors and have faced the same fears and decisions that our clients are experiencing. We offer specialized programs to meet the needs of unique populations including: The Pink Ribbon Cowgirls Program for young survivors, Navigating Breast Cancer Together, and a Spanish Outreach Program.  All of our services are offered free of charge.

Wonders and Worries
W&W’s professional services help children who have a seriously ill parent gain an age appropriate understanding of the illness, its treatment and side-effects; express feelings related to changes within the family; and develop positive coping skills they can use for the rest of their lives. It is our goal to decrease the child’s stress and anxiety, increase the child’s ability to cope with changes in the family, increase parent’s confidence and skills, and create stronger family communications. Just over 25% of the families we serve are affected by breast cancer.

For years, the affects of a parent’s serious illness on children was ignored by healthcare professionals. Recently, research has revealed some startling facts.

• A child’s stress and anxiety is actually higher prior to a parent’s death than following a death. 
• A study of adults, who as children had a parent diagnosed with cancer, indicated that 17% had lingering symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, with the instance most likely in girls.
• Many children of cancer patients experience symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome in the first year of the illness, with an additional group experiencing increased PTS symptoms as time passes.

Seton Cancer Screening Team and Seton Cancer Care Team
Seton Cancer Screening Team and Seton Cancer Care Team provide breast health education and assessment, mammography and clinical breast exams, assistance and navigation in receiving diagnostic testing, as well as emergency assistance for women once they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Our programs provide services to low income uninsured or underinsured women who would otherwise not have access to care .The programs are designed to take a woman who has an abnormal mammogram or clinical breast exam to definitive diagnosis without causing financial hardship while receiving the full spectrum of care. All women who go through the program are navigated by an RN Case Manager thought the entire process in order to ensure quality care and that women do not fall through the cracks of the healthcare system.

The Care Communities
The Care Communities believes that no one should face a serious illness alone, so we provide supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS and cancer.  We leverage the time and talent of 400 volunteers who work in Care Teams of 4-8 to empower our clients (called “Care Partners”) to live as independently as possible.  In addition to assisting their Care Partners with everyday activities such as grocery shopping, yard work or transportation to medical appointments, Care Teams provide their Care Partners with a network of friends and moral support.

Capital of Texas Team Survivor 
Capital of Texas Team Survivor (CTTS) provides emotional support and fitness opportunities for all women affected by cancer.   Based on the knowledge that exercise improves strength and fitness, increases feelings of confidence and control, and counteracts side effects from treatment, CTTS inspires women mentally and physically to regain normal lives during and after cancer treatment.  As cancer survivors, our members have paid their dues.  Thus, our programs are free and open to female cancer survivors from all walks of life.

Cancer Connection
The mission of Cancer Connection is to provide support, encouragement, resource referrals, and companionship to those whose lives are currently impacted by this disease. The support we provide comes from trained volunteers who themselves have survived a cancer diagnosis or have been a caregiver for a loved one with this disease. Our volunteers serve in visitation programs at local oncology centers and in Austin area hospitals, as well as in one-on-one matches with individuals currently battling cancer or caring for a loved one facing a current diagnosis.

Wings
Breast cancer is not a death sentence but untreated breast cancer is always fatal.  WINGS is a San Antonio-based charity which bridges the gap between diagnosis and survival by offering no-cost, comprehensive treatment and follow-up care to uninsured patients in Central and South Texas.  WINGS serves more than 46 Texas counties with a network of more than 200 healthare providers.

Community Action, Inc.
Community Action, Inc. of Hays, Caldwell & Blanco Counties Breast Cancer Outreach and Early Detection Program has been funded by the Austin Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure since 2004.  This program provides comprehensive education, screening, diagnosis and patient navigation in the four county rural capital area of Hays, Caldwell, Williamson and Bastrop counties.  Community Action’s patient navigators strive to improve the early detection of breast cancer by working with partnering agencies to coordinate screenings for uninsured women under 65 years of age and provide comprehensive medical case management to low-income women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sustainable Food Center
Sustainable Food Center cultivates a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. SFC envisions a food secure community where all children and adults grow, share and prepare healthy, local food. Sustainable Food Center’s The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™ offers the only cooking and nutrition class series for breast cancer survivors in Central Texas.

The Entrepreneur's Foundation
The Entrepreneur’s Foundation holds a percentage of the proceeds that it will generously offer to fund emerging needs as decided by the other ten beneficiary organizations. It is this forward thinking that will allow the Mamma Jamma Ride to pay for care where needs arise as the demand and need for services, care, and treatment continues to grow.