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Thank you to our retiring board members, Yvonne Eisenberg of Fishersville and Don Geisler of Chester, for their service and leadership to VBCF. Both have been dedicated breast cancer activists and plan to continue their active involvement as VBCF volunteers.
Welcome our newest Board Member, Dr. Cliff Deal, a surgical oncologist with HCA Richmond Surgical Group. We look forward to gaining his knowledge and expertise in the breast cancer field and are excited to have him engaged in furthering our mission of education and advocacy.
VBCF is hiring! We are seeking an energetic, highly-organized part-time Fund Development Manager for 20 hours/week in our Richmond office. VBCF's Fund Development Manager will support the organization's fundraising planning and execution with the goal of diversifying and increasing revenue goals, with particular emphasis on grants and the annual fund. To learn more, please visit www.vbcf.org/jobs.
EDUCATE:
2014 was another big year for VBCF! Thanks to the help of individuals like you over 143,000 pink ribbon cards and breast health basics brochures were distributed across Virginia. VBCF and its chapters donated $1,300 to six library systems, totaling 19 branches, across Virginia. These funds will allow libraries to provide up-to-date breast cancer resources to their patrons. In addition, VBCF mini grants totaling nearly $6,200 were also awarded to seven organizations in Virginia. These funds were used for breast health education and grantees estimated that more than 10,000 Virginians were served.
VBCF is once again offering mini-grants of up to $1,000 to non-profit organizations. The purpose of this grant program is to provide funds for breast cancer health education for Virginians. More information on the mini-grant program and the online application are available at www.vbcf.org/vbcf-mini-grant-opportunity. Applications are due by noon on Friday, April 10, 2015.
VBCF's Library Program is an extension of our mission to educate Virginians about breast cancer. Through the program, libraries have been able to purchase books, periodicals, DVDs and other materials to support women and their families in their community. The deadline for this year's library grant program is June 30, 2015. For more information visit www.vbcf.org/library-program. Application will be available online by March 2015.
ADVOCATE:
VBCF wishes Vernal Branch, former public policy manager, all the best in her semi-retirement, effective January 1, 2015. Vernal has made a positive impact on breast cancer policy for more than 20 years at the national and state levels, and we hope she enjoys this new phase of her life!
Becky Bowers-Lanier with B2L Consulting has been working with VBCF since last summer, and in 2015, will monitor state policy issues. VBCF plans to use 2015 to determine the best strategic investment of our resources for our future advocacy activities. As there is no proposed breast cancer specific legislation in the VA General Assembly at this time, VBCF is not planning to host a state breast cancer lobby day this year but rather is partnering in related coalition initiatives and legislation, including:
Fair Copay VA Advocacy Day on Wednesday, January 21st - is a patient-focused campaign dedicated to ensuring that Virginians who have paid their insurance premiums are able to access the medical treatments they need when they or someone in their family gets sick. Led by Patient Services, Inc., VBCF and other organizations support a legislative solution to limit out-of-pocket costs for vital medications. Insurers are increasingly moving medications to so-called "specialty tier" price categories, which require patients to pay a percentage of the total cost of their drugs, rather than a manageable and fixed copay. This can result in hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in additional out-of-pocket costs for even a single medication. To learn more visit www.faircopayva.org.
Healthcare for All Virginians (HAV) Coalition Advocacy Day on Wednesday, January 28th - VBCF is one of more than 100 members of the HAV coalition which will come together to advocate for affordable, quality health care to as many as 400,000 Virginians without health insurance. A new analysis shows hundreds and even thousands of residents in every legislator's district stand to gain coverage if Virginia lawmakers close the coverage gap, according to a new report by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, an independent fiscal and economic policy organization in Richmond. To get involved, sign up for alerts at www.havcoalition.org.
If you'd like to take your own advocacy skills to the next level, check out VBCF's Karin Decker Noss Scholarship. This $5,000 scholarship program is available to the awardee for a 24-month period to attend nationally recognized breast cancer training and conferences and to bring this knowledge back to Virginia through VBCF's breast cancer advocacy program. Applications will be available by February 28th, with a deadline of March 31st.
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