The Details

The Details

Pink Ribbon Jax is an all-volunteer, nonprofit group created in 2006 that raises funds for free mammograms and patient services. PRJ operates as a 501(c)(3) under the Baptist Health System Foundation umbrella. What began as one event, the Pink Ribbon Golf Classic, had grown to multiple fundraising and educational events. To date, we have donated more than $3.5 million in the fight against breast cancer, and it all stays in Jacksonville.

Contributions to Baptist Health have specifically helped with: 

• Funding more than 4,200 free mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women and men
• Completing the funding of Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center’s first 3D-Mobile Mammography Unit, the Buddy Bus
• Funding the Pink Ribbon Jax Breast Center at Baptist Medical Center Beaches
• The purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, including
  
  1. SenoClaire breast tomosynthesis with three-dimensional imaging technology
  2. Bi-directional dopplers that repair cells damaged by radiation
  3. X-ray pathology unit that results in even faster and more accurate diagnoses
  4. Digital mammography unit that helps with earlier and more accurate diagnoses
• Creation and funding of the Breast Cancer Care Coordinator position responsible for supporting patients through every aspect of treatment, including adjusting to life after treatment
• Underwriting of an educational forum on the hereditary risk of breast and ovarian cancers, the connection between these cancers, and the discovery of the BRCA 1 & 2 genes
• Establishment of the Support & Survivorship Program at Hill Breast Center, offering services that enhance patients’ lives during and after treatment
• Establishment of an endowment that provides a consistent source of funding for breast cancer related needs, including medical costs not covered by health insurance
• Fostering an endowment that provides funding for genetic testing and screening for young women diagnosed with or at an increased risk for breast cancer

For PRJ’s contributions to the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, we were recently recognized as Distinguished Benefactors. Highlights of contributions, primarily benefiting pioneering research, include:

• Support of cutting-edge research such as Stage III clinical trials of Mayo’s Breast Cancer Vaccine
• Funding of the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program, which developed an analytical infrastructure that positioned Mayo Clinic as one of the global leaders in breast cancer genomics
• Support of the Breast Cancer Genome Guided Therapy Study (BEAUTY), a ground-breaking, national genetic clinical trial designed to help researchers and physicians better understand the role genetics play in breast cancer treatment in order to develop more personalized therapies for breast cancer patients now and in the future
• Purchase of a biopsy system used in conjunction with digital breast tomosynthesis. This integral piece of equipment gives radiologists the ability to locate and accurately target regions of interest for biopsy resulting in a seamless, streamlined procedure
• Support of research to identify factors that put patients at risk of lymphedema in order to help women understand their own risk and aid in the development of novel prevention tools