The Komen Vermont Race for the Cure Announces
2000-2001 Grant Recipient Winners at Kick-Off Breakfast

MANCHESTER, VT - January 15, 2001 - The 9th annual Vermont Komen Race for the Cure® committee will announce the winners of the 2000-2001 Race for the Cure® grant recipients at a kick off breakfast to be held on Tuesday, January 30, 2001 at 9:00 a.m. at the Equinox Hotel. Launched in 1993, the Race has grown to be the largest 5K race in Vermont.

On the eve of celebrating it’s golden anniversary, the Race committee will report that this year’s award is the largest ever made by the Komen Vermont Race for the Cure®. In the last three years the amount raised by the Race has more than doubled.

Grant recipients from across the state will attend the event to receive their grants and to celebrate the results generated by the positive awareness and money raised by the Komen Vermont Race for the Cure. The key to fighting this disease is early detection and that means on-going awareness campaigns and educational efforts about the three steps that will save lives - monthly breast self-examination, clinical breast examination and screening mammography.

Last year’s Race attracted over 3820 participants, the most ever, according to Laura Heinel, Race Chair. Over 250 men, women and children volunteered to make the event the most organized race ever. Participants came from as far away as Switzerland, Chile and England with over 34 different U.S. states represented including Alaska, Virginia, Georgia, California, Texas, Florida, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The majority of participants came from Vermont (2417), New York (419), and New Hampshire (145). Over 204 survivors participated.

This year’s Komen Vermont Race for the Cure® will be held on Sunday, July 29 at Hildene’s Meadowlands in Manchester. It will consist of a variety of events: a 5K Run for Women, a 5K Run for Men, a 5K Run/Walk for Women and Men and a Steeplechase for children and families.

The Komen Vermont Race for the Cure® is part of a nationwide series of events with a volunteer network of 114 affiliates representing 108 races in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Internationally there are affiliates in Rome, Argentina and Germany.

Seventy-five percent of the funds raised stays in Vermont for funding of non-duplicative breast health and breast cancer outreach programs for the medically under served in those communities. A minimum of twenty-five percent of the Komen Vermont Race for the Cure® proceeds support the Foundation’s National Grant Program.

Credited as the nation’s leading catalyst in the fight against breast cancer, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and its powerful network of volunteers continue to lead the fight against the disease. Established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at age 36, the Komen Foundation’s mission is to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by advancing research, education, screening, and treatment.

For an invitation to or more information about the kick-off breakfast, please call the Race Office: (802) 362-2733.