Since 2001, M+R Strategic Services (M+R) has worked closely with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® to educate Congress, the President, policymakers, volunteers, and the public about what they can do to improve breast cancer policy in the United States.  The ultimate goal?  Ending breast cancer forever! 

Today, M+R is taking Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s® special brand of pink ribbon activism on the road through the Komen Community Challenge, a national tour that is using the power of the grassroots to raise awareness of the need to “close the gap” in access to quality health care, research and information. 

Here’s a taste of where we’ve been in the West and what we’ve accomplished so far:

• At a 2-day Challenge Extravaganza in Sacramento, California, over 500 Komen advocates called on state leaders to increase critical funding that would expand access to high-quality detection services like digital mammograms.  M+R continues to manage the campaign in California to pass a legislative package in 2008.
  
• In Seattle, Washington, Komen advocates hosted a Town Hall Meeting and a lobby day. As a result, Washington became the first state in the country to provide state funding for digital mammograms under the Washington Breast and Cervical Health Program!
  
• Over 300 people attended a bi-lingual community picnic in Phoenix, Arizona, where community leaders, cancer survivors and legislators increased awareness for early detection services and programs for free screening. 
  
• The University of New Mexico Lobos “went pink” with Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish and an arena full of Komen advocates and supporters.  The effort garnered national media attention highlighting health disparities in the Native American community and helped secure an additional $500,000 for early detection services for uninsured and underinsured women in New Mexico!