It’s time to gather a team of family, friends and co-workers, don pink attire, and help raise funds for those in need of breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Join the Desert Cancer Foundation’s 9th Annual Paint El Paseo Pink Charitable Walk Saturday, October 10. This impactful event brings the Coachella Valley together to support our uninsured or underinsured community members in need of breast cancer screening and care; to honor and support those diagnosed with breast cancer; and to provide education on the importance of screenings.

The opening ceremonies begin at The Gardens on El Paseo at 9:30 am, kicking off the walk down El Paseo and back to The Gardens.

Desert Cancer Foundation (DCF) was founded in 1994 with the mission of helping Coachella Valley residents in need of financial assistance with medical costs associated with cancer screenings, diagnosis and treatment. Through their two Patients Assistance Programs (Patients Assistance and Suzanne Jackson Breast Cancer Fund), DCF has funded more than $56.5 million in cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment at a billable cost of $8 million. Impressively, DCF has fostered valuable partnerships with Desert Regional Comprehensive Cancer Center, Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center, physicians, imaging centers, and other health care professionals who, sharing our vision and mission, provide medical care at a reduced rate.

“Thank God my friend told me about the Susan Jackson Breast Fund,” says a 43-year-old client we’ll call Jill, whose doctor found lump on her right breast and advised her to get a diagnostic mammogram. Upon hearing this, she worried excessively as she could not afford the much needed service. “Thanks to the Desert Cancer Foundation, I was able to get the diagnostic mammogram at no cost. Knowing that there is a program that helps women in the Coachella Valley get free mammograms to help prevent breast cancer gave me relief,” she says adding that the lump turned out to be benign and she was able to sleep peacefully once again. Jill plans to return to DCF as a volunteer.

Desert Cancer Foundation has become an important partner in our local health care system as service providers refer patients in need of financial assistance. A model program in cancer care, DCF is one of only a few organizations in the nation which pay for an individual’s cancer treatment including biopsies, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and prescriptions through their Patient Assistance program. In 2005, DCF expanded its assistance programs to include funding breast cancer screenings and diagnostic services for low-income, uninsured residents.

So come help support this much needed cause and Paint El Paseo Pink!

Register today at www.desertcancerfoundation.org or call (760) 773.6554 for further information on registration and sponsorship opportunities.