In recent years, the race's success has allowed the Foundation to make sizeable contributions to some of Baltimore's most prestigious medical institutions.

2010 Donations

We issued RFPs to partner organizations in 2010. By year's end, 5 partners were selected for various grant awards detailed below:

1. Gynecological Oncology Collaborative - GON (Headquarters at Mercy Medical Center)

The BWC continues its relationship with the GON at Mercy for the 3rd year. The GON consists of  7  hospitals throughout the State of Maryland and led by Dr. Neil Rosenshein, an expert in the area of gynecological cancers. Through the GON collaborative, funds will be used to provide a host of services for patients from transportation, home cleanings, child care, meals and prescription co pays. The BWC finds the message at the GON group one that is inspiring and offers a smile to those women in their care.

(Michael Mullen, Executive Director of the GON and Nurse Debbie)

2. Good Samaraitan Hospital

A new addition to the BWC partnership. Good Sam has an entire program mapped out for the funds that include a patient navigator and resources to assist women in need of transportation and other services that can make the arduous journey of treatment just a little bit easier. This is in fact the Mission of the BWC, to help with EVERY DAY MATTERS.

(Pictured: Tom Amatucci, Director, Baltimore Women’s Classic, Inc; Anne Krackow, Patient Resource Navigator, GSH Cancer Care Program, and Davis Hahn, M.D., Chief, Division of Oncology )

3. Saint Agnes Foundation

This is the first year to partner with Saint Agnes and we are very excited to welcome them into the BWC family of hospitals aiding women in Maryland.

(Pictured at left: Lindy Small, President of the Saint Agnes Foundation & JoAnne deBettencourt, Director of Major Gifts)

4. Greater Baltimore Medical Center

The BWC will sponsor two gynecological educational semiars hosted by GBMC. The first is slated for the middle of 2011 and the second later in the year. Thru these educational seminars the intent is to educate women to the "signs" of self awareness and how to aware of this silent killer.

(Pictured at right: Jamie Lynch, Director Corporations, Foundations and Governtment Support; Janet Farr Director of  Giving; Felicity Kirby, RN, BSN Survivorship Coordinator;  Donna Lewis, RN, MS, CPC Manager Oncology Support Services)

5. the Barnet Searing National Cancer Foundation

the BSNCF was the recipient of the BWC efforts for the inaugural years. the BWC hopes to continue this relationship in the years to come. This year with funds derived from the BWC events a joint program will be entered with GBMC. Both the BWC and BSNCF will fund the creation of a "comfort kit" for gynecological patients. The kit will include a canvas bag filled with small necessities that hopefully will make a patient's stay slightly easier. The bag will include a small blanket, water bottle, head cap, a writingpad and pen and other items of use.

(Photo: Tom Barnett of the BSNCF)

In 2008, Baltimore Women’s Classic generated $44,000 from race proceeds and other donations made to the foundation. Of that amount, $17,000 was given to Mercy Medical Center to continue our successful pilot program initiated in 2007, The institution will use funds to carry on support of patients and families as needed. For more information about Mercy Medical Center’s Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine, visit www.mdmercy.com.

The BWC expanded its programs through a new partnership with St. Joseph Medical Center and donated $4,000 to begin similar patient support efforts at the hospital. Learn more about St. Joseph Medical Center at www.sjmcmd.org.

Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation was the recipient of $15,000.

In 2007, Baltimore Women's Classic 5K brought in more than $40,000 distributed to local charities.

The BWC kicked off a pilot program with Mercy Hospital and the Red Devils  to support women undergoing ovarian cancer treatment. This program provides services to patients and their families such as transportation, meals and house care as they proceed through treatment at Mercy. The program began in October 2007 and ran through March 2008.

Also in 2007, the Baltimore Women's Classic bestowed a $5,200 sponsorship to the Red Devils Heart & Stroll. The Red Devils is a Maryland-based charitable organization inspired by the courage, grace and humor of two young women, Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt, who refused to be defined by their disease. The Red Devils fund services to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients and their families. This pledge amount is called "Devils' Details" and provided roundtrip transportation for 50 patients to and from their cancer treatments. For more information on the Red Devils, visit www.the-red-devils.org.

After the Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation funded the patient navigator position at Sinai Hospital in 2005, the care they were able to provide for patients was greatly enhanced. One special program developed by the patient navigator through funding provided by the Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation has enabled wishes of many patients to be granted. The "Wish Fund” was established to give patients and their families the wish of their choice.

The Wish Fund has provided many once in a lifetime opportunities for cancer patients, including box seats to an Oriole’s game for a Stage 4 patient. More recently, the navigator delivered a special crab cake dinner to a hospice patient when he said that he would love “one last crab cake.” The Wish Fund has been able to provide nights on the town, fresh flower delivery, concert tickets and get-aways. This fund provides an invaluable gift to patients during cancer treatment as well as end of life. Learn more about Barnett-Searing.

GBMC’s Cancer Center. The funds were used to create a patient resource guide for all cancer patients at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The goal of the guide is to help patients and families live as healthy a life as possible after a cancer diagnosis. Patients are encouraged to use the handbook to organize all health care information received or needed during their treatment, including patient education materials, treatments, medications, pain management, test results and support resources. Learn more about GBMC's Cancer Center.

LEE’S FRIENDS: Helping People Live With Cancer. The funds were earmarked to support gynecologic cancer patients and their families. This donation provided assistance to more than 400 volunteers who offered much needed support to patients and families dealing with cancer in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia. LEE’S FRIENDS, is an award-winning support program for cancer patients and their families. The program is named for Lee Harkins who died of Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 16. Lee had a vision to help others who might not be as fortunate as she. The organization’s primary mission remains true to Lee’s vision, to offer person-to-person help and much needed emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families who are facing the crisis of diagnosis and treatment. Learn more about LEE’S FRIENDS.

In 2006, BWC presents a check to Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation chairman John Searing. The funds were used throughout 2006 as follows:

The Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation made a donation to Stella Maris Hospice program in Timonium, Maryland, allowing the organization to continue its valuable mission to provide competent, compassionate and comprehensive care to the elderly, sick, injured and dying.

The Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation also made a donation to Lee’s Friends: Helping People Live With Cancer. The funds were earmarked to support gynecologic cancer patients and their families. This donation provided assistance to more than 400 volunteers who offered much needed support to patients and families dealing with cancer in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. Learn more about Lee's Friends at www.leesfriends.org.

The Barnett Searing National Cancer Foundation also awarded a $5,000 grant to help the Red Devils further its expansion to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, furthering our goal of assisting both cancer patients and their families. This donation helped 400 breast cancer patients and their families with:

• 2,795 trips to treatments
• 529 meals and groceries
• 329 house cleanings
• 73 other services such as complimentary therapies and home care

The success of the 2005 Jenny Smith Baltimore Women’s Classic 5k provided the Foundation with the means to provide a $20,000 grant to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. The $20,000 donation was used to create a new staff position, a Patient Navigator at The Lapidus Cancer Institute at Sinai. The hospital will subsequently fund the future of the position entirely. The Patient Navigator is responsible for assisting oncology patients and their caregivers through the continuum of care. S/he will assess the patient's needs and link patients to community agencies that provide housing, appropriate oncology educational materials and social services.

2004

In 2004, the success of the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K and Caribbean Night allowed the Foundation to make a significant donation to the Johns Hopkins Ovarian Cancer Center of Excellence. The donation was used to support the creation of the Virtual Survivor Network website. The purpose of the website is to provide support to patients by being able to access others who are undergoing the same tests and treatments. Hospital staff will also participate and monitor chat-room postings for additional support, and to stop any medical misinformation. Being a new endeavor, the virtual survivor network will initially focus on serving Hopkins patients. The site will eventually expand to a larger audience.

2003

The success of the 2003 Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K allowed a sizable donation to be made to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) in Towson. Mary Barnett was a patient at GBMC, and the donation was used to furnish GBMC’s newly renovated cancer center waiting area.