GUMC Update

Lombardi and CBCC Team Up to Step Out Breast Cancer

April 22, 2009

At least twice per month since this winter, Harriet Weiner and Jeanne Mandelblatt have joined 19 other volunteers to don their workout clothes and work up a sweat.

Weiner and Mandelblatt are leading Lombardi and its Capital Breast Care Center (CBCC)’s 2009 AVON Walk for Breast Cancer team. This team of women will walk anywhere between 26.2 and 39 miles on May 2-3 in Washington to raise money to help find a cure for breast cancer. This year’s route takes participants through the District of Columbia—including a rest stop at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center—and surrounding suburban areas.

“We train, talk, laugh and share Motrin,” jokes Mandelblatt. “We’re looking forward to the walk and to helping our community,” adds Weiner.

The team leaders are walking to cure breast cancer—as well as supporting medically underserved women in the Washington area.

Mandelblatt, who is Lombardi’s associate director for Population Sciences, says her career has been centered on bringing change in healthcare and providing cancer care access to underserved populations.

In 2004, she asked for—and received—a $1 million grant from the Avon Breast Cancer Foundation. Those funds helped open the Capital Breast Care Center in Southeast DC which, since its inception, has screened more than 4,000 women for breast cancer and diagnosed another 50 who otherwise would have gone untreated. This year, Avon will grant CBCC another $750,000 for screenings and additional research.

After walking for 6 years, 2 years ago, Mandelblatt decided it was time for Lombardi and the CBCC to have a walk team. She attributes the team’s success to Lombardi Director Louis Weiner and his wife, Harriet. When Weiner joined Lombardi as its director in 2007, Harriet and their daughter, Elana Fertig, stepped in to join the small team of dedicated Lombardi staff who were walking to honor the late Robert Dickson, a world class breast cancer researcher from Lombardi.

This year, the team has grown and includes women from all over the DC metro area; they walk because they share a vision of helping others- friends, family, co-workers, and their community. The team is close to its goal of $37,000 and is among the top fundraising teams participating in the walk. Over the last year, they sponsored bake sales and jewelry parties to raise the funds. Mandelblatt also raises money for the team through her “Knit One, Cure One” initiative where she sells scarves that she makes, with all proceeds going to the walk team. You can see her knitting in all her meetings! For more information on “Knit One, Cure One” click here: http://guavonteam.wordpress.com/knit-one-cure-one/

“We’re all walking for different reasons,” says Weiner. “There’s a great sense of family and camaraderie.”

It’s never too early to join: Lou Weiner already has signed up for next year’s walk. Still want to help this year? Team Lombardi/CBCC is seeking donations and volunteers to cheer on the walkers. To donate to this awesome team click here: http://tinyurl.com/LombardiCBCC-avon

For more information, contact Elena Jeannotte at ej48@georgetown.edu.

By Tressa Kirby, excerpted from the GUMC Update

Submit your news at any time to the GUMC Office of Communications at gumccomm@georgetown.edu.

Copyright Georgetown University Medical Center 2007

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