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State Income Tax Check-Off For Breast Cancer Research Featured
(State College, PA) Pat Halpin-Murphy, President and Founder of the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC) along with PennStateUniversity, announced a press conference to raise public awareness about the Income Tax Check-Off for Breast and Cervical Cancer Research. The press conference will be held on Thursday, April 1, 2004 at 12:00noon at theAlumni Lounge in Old Main on the University Park Campus of Penn State University. The public is invited to attend and refreshments will be served.
The program will feature the following speakers:
- Pat Halpin-Murphy, PBCC President and Founder
- Thomas Loughran, MD, Director, Penn State Cancer Institute, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
- Senator Jake Corman
- Andrea Mastro, PhD, Penn State University, Income Tax Check-Off Grant Recipient
- Ann Ward, PBCC Board Member and Regional Director, Co-Principal Investigator, The Appalachia Cancer Network
- Mimi Coppersmith Fredman, President, The Barash Group and Centre County Exhibit Participant (not confirmed)
The Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Fund, landmark legislation initiated by the PBCC in 1997, allows Pennsylvania taxpayers to donate all or part of their state tax refund to breast and cervical cancer research. All of the money raised goes to cancer researchers, hospitals and universities in Pennsylvania. The average tax refund donation is $8.00 and to date, over $1.2 million has been raised.
PBCC President and Founder Pat Halpin-Murphy, a breast cancer survivor, said, "Every single penny of the money raised is awarded to researchers across the state. The PBCC is a force for women and their families and 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."
Halpin-Murphy chairs the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Cancer Advisory Board's Income Tax Check-Off Committee, which recommends how the refund donations should be awarded to researchers.
"We are very proud of the fact that three of our research scientists, Dr. Carol Gay, Dr. Andrea Mastro and Dr. Michael Verderame, have been recipients of these very important research grants, funded by contributions from Pennsylvania taxpayers, " said Dr. Thomas Loughran, Director of Penn State Cancer Institute.
“For too long, the cancer control needs of women from rural medically underserved areas, our ethnic minorities, and those who are uninsured, have suffered from lack of scientifically grounded problem solving. Our ability to carry out research to investigate and effectively address the serious disparities that exist depend upon research dollars such as these generated by the Income Tax Check Off funds”, said Ann Ward, PBCC Board Member and Regional Director, Co-Principal Investigator, The Appalachia Cancer Network.
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 several 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 and cervical cancer research; and
- The Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery Act, which mandates insurance coverage for post- mastectomy breast reconstruction and prohibits outpatient 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 the photo exhibit, "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. |
