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Florida Parishes Community Donates Over $41,000
To Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
(Hammond) -- Generous donors in the Florida Parishes community made Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center a priority in their community philanthropy last year with gifts totaling $41,700 during the Center’s 2006 Annual Giving Campaign. Donna F. Taylor served as chair for the Florida Parishes area. Volunteer solicitors included Glenn Bartels, Heather Damitio, Gerri Delatte, Alexis Ducorbier, Christy Gatlin, Shawn Hubbard, Bart Leader, Phil Livingston, Mike Lofaso, Lillian Maurin, Lloyd Spring and Frank Vallot.
“Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center provides a vital service to our community. We are fortunate to have the Center and the C.A.R.E. Network here. Supporting its good works comes naturally to the Florida Parishes community,” remarked Taylor. “I thank the dedicated volunteers and generous donors who helped make our campaign a success and hope more will join with us in the years to come.” Annual support from the community provides funding for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s C.A.R.E. Network. Mary Bird Perkins established the C.A.R.E. Network to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in southeast Louisiana and to improve the quality of life for those affected by cancer. The Center’s mobile medical clinic, the Early Bird, provided more than 120 screening events for approximately 4,500 people in 2006, bringing life-saving early detection to people who do not have health insurance and could otherwise not afford it – including those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and now living in the Center’s 15-parish service area. In addition to these early detection programs, the C.A.R.E. Network also provides cancer support services for patients and their families, awareness and education programs, and clinical research trials.
In a year that saw south Louisiana still struggling to find its way back from the impact of the great storm disasters that impacted our region so deeply, community donors were exceptionally generous and made gifts totaling $955,826.59 to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center during the Center’s 2006 Annual Giving Campaign. The amount also includes philanthropic gifts from 100% of the Center employees who make financial gifts to directly benefit the patients as well as 100% participation by members of the Center’s board of directors.
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About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center:
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been fighting cancer for over 35 years. It is the only independent, nonprofit cancer treatment, education and research facility in Louisiana providing state of the art radiation therapy to all community residents regardless of ability to pay. Mary Bird Perkins has integrated cancer programs with Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center in Baton Rouge and St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. These programs are accredited by the American College of Surgeons –the gold standard for community-based cancer care. The Center also enjoys a long-standing relationship with North Oaks Hospital in Hammond.
About the C.A.R.E. Network:
The mission of the C.A.R.E. Network (Cancer Support Services, Awareness and Education, Research and Early Detection) is to lessen the burden of cancer in the community. Established in 2002, it is funded by gifts from the community and provides hundreds of programs and services, including free cancer screenings, to thousands of people every year. The research and academic medical physics partnership with MBP and Louisiana State University is also funded in part by the C.A.R.E. Network. The Center has locations in Baton Rouge, Covington and Hammond.