(Ephrata, PA) Tax time is coming to a close but you still have time to donate your state tax refund and join the fight against breast cancer.

PA residents can use their pen to aid in the fight against breast cancer. Just by checking line 35 on tax form PA 40, Pennsylvania residents can donate a part or all of their state income tax refunds to breast cancer research.

Since the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition’s (PBCC) Income Tax Check-Off was signed into law in 1997, this unique cancer research initiative has raised over $1.2 million for Pennsylvania-based cancer researchers. Thousands of PA taxpayers contribute an average of $8.00 from their refunds and recognize the PBCC’s Income Tax Check Off as the most popular “refund donation option.” All of the money raised goes to cancer researchers, hospitals and universities in Pennsylvania.

“Because of the efforts of PBCC activists, Pennsylvanians can donate their tax refunds to Breast and Cervical Cancer Research, post-mastectomy patients can now get insurance coverage for breast reconstruction and qualified women are guaranteed free medical treatment if they are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer,” said Leslie Anne Miller, General Counsel to Governor Edward G. Rendell and Honorary Chair of the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition. “But it is because of the generosity of the people in Pennsylvania that we celebrate the hope and knowledge that we are moving closer to finding a cure.”

PBCC President and Founder, Pat Halpin-Murphy said, “When we began the Income Tax Check-Off we knew it would provide vital, life-saving research. The incredible success of this simple and effective way to raise research dollars renews our commitment to find a cure for breast cancer now… so our daughters won’t have to.©”

Ms. Halpin-Murphy co-chairs the PA Cancer Control, Prevention and Research Advisory Board’s Income Tax Check-Off Committee, which recommends how the refund donations should be distributed. The program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health

The PBCC, founded in 1993, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the breast cancer epidemic through research, education, outreach and advocacy. As the only statewide grassroots organization that speaks to and for breast cancer survivors, the PBCC insured the passage of two crucial pieces of Commonwealth legislation: The Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Act, which allows taxpayers to donate all or part of their state income tax refunds to breast cancer research; and The Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery Act, which mandates insurance coverage for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction and prohibits out-patient mastectomies.

The PBCC serves each of the Commonwealth’s 67 counties through the Income Tax Check-Off, Mother’s Day Mammograms®, the Keystone Breast Cancer Conference, and 67 Women, 67 Counties: Facing Breast Cancer in Pennsylvania. For more information about the PBCC visit our website at www.pabreastcancer.org or call 717/738-9567 or toll free 1-800-377-8828.