More than 500,000 women participated in the Mother’s Day event, according to the sponsor Access Community Health Network (ACCESS), which launched the initiative in partnership with Stand Against Cancer, a state-funded collaboration between Illinois faith-based, health care, and community-based organizations. The first event was held in 2007.
“As a pastor and community leader it is important that I provide encouragement and resources for women to take care of themselves and get regular mammograms and Pap smears,” says Pastor Jocelyn Thornton.
African American women are far less likely to get breast cancer than white women, but they are 116% more likely to die from this devastating disease, according to a 2005 study by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force. Mortality rates for Hispanic women are similarly high.
“While there have been many advances in mammography screening, which leads to early detection, a large segment of African American and Hispanic women in particular are still losing their lives to breast cancer,” said Donna Thompson, CEO of ACCESS. “We want mothers who were in church this Mother’s Day to be around to celebrate the next Mother’s Day.”
