Give Back Grant Cycle 4 Supports 300 Women of Color

 

Since 2020, the Give Back Grant program has worked to aid women of color who often find themselves marginalized within the healthcare system and beyond. The $500 grants provided by this program are unrestricted, allowing breast cancer patients and survivors to apply the funds as they are most needed. 

Each woman’s experience of breast cancer and recovery is unique, and we honor this truth by offering financial assistance with the hope of letting survivors and patients know they are not alone during this challenging time.

Funding for our most recent cycle, Cycle 4, has now been dispersed to 300 women of color, totaling $150K in grants. 

We are deeply grateful to all of the generous donors who support our Give Back Grant program, allowing us to continue to make an impact in these women’s lives.

Here’s who we supported with our most recent grant cycle

INVESTING IN HOPE

Investing in women of color breast cancer survivors and patients means investing in hope.

Through applicant feedback and past cycles we know that many GBG grantees use their grant for medical expenses and bills including transportation to medical appointments, rent, mortgage payments and healing-related expenses. Grantees have also been inspired to use their grants in other impactful ways including to:

  • Pay it forward: used their funds to help other breast cancer survivors/patients.

From 2022 grant recipient and 2023 Selection Committee Member Jessica Isimoto: “I used my grant to go to Disneyland with my best friends from high school, and to go to Portland to be with my cancer bestie as she passed from metastatic breast cancer. I used my grant to ride the rollercoaster of life with my favorite people.”

  • Start businesses: Pursue their entrepreneurial dreams that were delayed due to illness or to start businesses that support the breast cancer community.

We met Melissa Watson, one of our 2022 recipients, in-person recently at Young Survival Coalition’s Summit in Las Vegas. She shared with us how she used her grant to start her Etsy shop “CampThriver”! Check it out!

  • Embrace life: Take a well-deserved vacation or create lasting memories with loved ones.

From 2021 grant recipient Sheila Polite:  I was gifted a cruise vacation on Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Wonder of the Seas. The Give Back Grant was used to help pay for my airfare to Barcelona, Spain, where the ship embarked. It was a wonderful seven day Mediterranean cruise with stops in Palma De Mallorca, Spain, Provence (Marseille) France, Florence, Rome & Naples, Italy. This was a much-needed vacation after a cancer diagnosis, surgery & treatment. 

We love to hear about all of the ways grantees are using their funding. Whether it helped them feel more at ease when choosing rideshare to their chemo appointments or indulging in a spa day long overdue–this is why we created this program!

If you would like to be part of this effort and help us support more women in Cycle 5, make a donation to this program today!

We aim to grow this program and are continuing to expand our outreach further, having hired our dedicated Give Back Grant Manager Marquita Goodluck beginning this past grant cycle. 

Our aim for this upcoming cycle, opening for applicants this fall, is to provide a minimum of 200 grants totaling $100,000. Learn more about the GBG program and our “why,” as well as how you can help support this effort.

 
 
Give Back GrantKeep A BreastGive Back Grant, Grantees, BIPOC, 2023