I had a poor experience trying to donate furniture to the American Breast Cancer Foundation. I made the appointment for pick up by telephone and waited two weeks for the appointment. The drivers arrived more than 3 hours before my appointment slot and seemed annoyed that I was home. They took only a cursory look at the furniture and started mumbling between themselves. In less than a minute they left refusing to take the furniture claiming they were dusty. I got the feeling they’re not interested in picking up furniture. It’s sad.
BRAVO, American Breast Cancer Foundation!
A little bit about JOY TO LIFE FOUNDATION:
There are so many people in Alabama who do not have health insurance. They simply cannot afford it. It is for this reason that 20 year survivor, Joy Blondheim, and her husband Richard, formed a program in Alabama allowing these women and men to get the life-saving services they need. The program supports screening and early detection of breast cancer. It is called the Joy to Life Foundation. The Foundation works in partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health, Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program. Joy to Life directly provides free mammograms to medically under-served women and men younger than 40 years of age who qualify for the Public Health Program, and those over 40 are screened through ADPH. Joy to Life very proudly helps fund that program also.
Thousands of women in this area, who are younger than 40, need mammograms but don’t receive them because they can’t afford them. The Joy to Life Foundation has begun to change all of that. We are making a difference. As a result of the partnership between JTL and Alabama Public Health Department, our foundation has been either directly or indirectly responsible for nearly 80,000 mammograms. During the 2016 ABCF Grant period, our screenings detected seven cases of breast cancer. Without Joy to Life these women may not have received the life-saving screenings they deserved. The Joy to Life Foundation is very proud of that!
We are forever grateful for the very generous support we have received since we first started this foundation. We were so immensely honored for our efforts in Alabama to be recognized by AMERICAN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION. Their very generous grant in 2016 helped us SAVE LIVES! We certainly hope this vital program will continue to receive the necessary funds to provide screening and education to women throughout Alabama, teaching them that through early detection we can win the fight against breast cancer. Our partnership has been such an important addition this past year, and the ABCF team has been a JOY to work with! JTL has consistently been energized to see innovative and BIG ideas coming from the ABCF office. Their reports, awareness efforts, outreach and social media offerings are both informative and relevant. The very dedicated team at ABCF is SAVING LIVES! BRAVO!
Review from Guidestar
The support of the American Breast Cancer Foundation has been critical in helping women in our region access no-cost mammograms. Our community serves a high immigrant population; often they are uninsured and cannot qualify for mainstream support programs.
This support has been crucial to serving our community and most importantly, has been crucial to SAVING LIVES! Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to serve and improve the health of our region.
We are so grateful to the support and efforts of the American Breast Cancer Foundation. Their support is making a difference.
-Elizabeth McLaughlin, Foundation Director of the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation, Washington
Review from Guidestar
The American Breast Cancer Foundation’s grant met two critical needs for the Rex Mammography Assistance Program. First, the grant has helped us provide care to women living in outlying counties. Our other major grant is limited to services in certain counties. However, our program serves women living in counties not covered by that grant. ABCF funds are not geographically restricted, providing a much-needed funding source for women in outlying counties. This is particularly important because these are some of the more economically distressed counties we serve and they often lack resources for uninsured women.
The grant has also been very important in facilitating the continuum of care that is so important to breast health. When a patient is referred for diagnostic services, time is of the essence. If too much time passes before an appointment is scheduled, we are at risk of the patient not following through with needed exams. Funding for diagnostic mammograms and breast ultrasounds has traditionally been more difficult to find, as some of our sources of funding are designated for screening mammograms and education only. Because ABCF grant funds can be used for a variety of breast health services, uninsured women now have a resource for diagnostic mammograms and breast ultrasounds. These services are often underappreciated, but they are so important to ensuring that the patients we serve have access to full range of breast health care.
Kelli Poe-Jones
UNC Rex Hospital
Manager, Diagnostic Services.
Review from Guidestar
Here's the bottom line - ABCF's 2013 Form 990 filing to IRS states that of $1 million in donations they gave out less than $20,000 in grants for mammograms and other services - a mere 2%. ABCF's board should be ashamed since most of what they claim are program services are actually salaries and mailing expenses for solicitations. While ABCF may have shown some signs of improvement under new management, they are still no where close to being an efficient public charity with their primary beneficiaries still being the telemarketers they employ who keep over 80% of donations raised. In many respects, ABCF is not unlike the Breast Cancer Prevention Fund (BCPF) which the IRS recently shut down according to this news report: http://www.komonews.com/news/problemsolvers/Bankrupt-Charity-259139541.html.
Don't be fooled by ABCF's glitzy website and marketing! If you truly want to help women fight breast cancer then donate directly to your state's public health department since 100% will fund the local clinics that provide these services free to woman who can't afford them.
Review from Guidestar
Thanks to ABCF I was able to get my yearly mammogram. I'm a breast cancer survivor without insurance at the time of my mammogram. Without them I would not have been able to get my mammogram done. You should support them because they really do care.
Review from Guidestar
Do not support this group,they are a scam and give less than 2 % to the actual clients that need help and they pocket the rest. They should be exposed for what they are! http://www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/charities/american-breast-cancer-foundation-inc
Review from Guidestar
My sister got help from the American Breast cancer Foundation. They paid for her mammogram because she was 28 and with no insurance. She had a lump and was really scared. Our mom died from breast cancer at 58. We asked Komen and the American Cancer Society for help and they said no. I got some labels in the mail and told my sister to call them and ask for help. They paid for her mammogram, then her ultrasound, biopsy and when she found out it was cancer they gave her a grant to help her with her surgery costs. They kept checking on her the whole time to see how she was. If this group did not help my sister when no one else would she would be dead today. These people really do save lifes.
abcf1 11/05/2013
As CEO of ABCF, I do not recognize your name as a past or current member of our Board of Directors . However, assuming you do exist, I state unconditionally that the accusations and assertions, in your attached article, (the source of which is based on out dated information,) is intended solely to vilify and denigrate this foundation, and is not at all a reflection of our current practice. I am proud to say that ABCF has served thousands of women and men without insurance who needed routine and diagnostic mammograms throughout the United States. Further, our Client Satisfaction Surveys are consistently positive. Such services are currently available by calling our 877 number. Today, after many years of hard work, we have moved our program services to almost 40% of our budget, with a goal of moving even higher. I urge you to contact us directly if you have concerns about our work. Jacky Loube jackyloube@abcf.org