The CBCF & BCANS partnership

By ABCN Editorial

Last Updated: Oct 16, 2008
Notice Board : Atlantic Region

Email this article

Printer friendly page

Breast Cancer Action Nova Scotia (BCANS) became a registered non-profit survivor-driven society in 1994. As anyone knows, running a non-profit organization takes money.  What BCANS had was a small group of very determined survivors who wanted to make a difference. For the first four years the organization's activities were fueled by profits from raffle items, personal donations, two Health Canada project grants, and the goodwill of the founding members.  In other words, funding was painfully tight.  

In 1997 the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Atlantic Region opened its office and with it the opportunity for organizations to apply for funding through their grant programs.  The first Community Health Grant, awarded to BCANS from the Foundation in February 2000, was for $30,000 towards the Web Project.  Receiving this amount of money to help run the BCANS website gave a huge boost to the spirit of for the organization.  The Community Discussion Forum on the website had grown rapidly to become one of the most used sites for online support worldwide.  With that growth was the added responsibility to monitor and support its function.  

At that time, and to this day, it is very difficult to get funding to support a website.  The Foundation recognized the benefit that the website provided to Atlantic Canadians and wanted to ensure its future existence.  At the time we were so  grateful to receive the money we immediately sent a thank you to CBCF.  A response came back that it was "they" who wanted to thank BCANS for doing this and using the money that was raised for important work helping breast cancer patients.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Atlantic Region again supported BCANS when a Community Grant was awarded in the amount of $17,296 to reprint the first and create the second BCANS "In Our Own Words" series of books.  The first book was a collection of first person stories and tips from women and men who had experienced breast cancer, and specifically their stories as they told them on the Community Discussion Forum.  The second book was a collection of stories about how mothers told their children (all ages) about a breast cancer diagnosis. The books were intended for the Atlantic Region, but became so popular that orders for the book came from across North America.  Thankfully, money from the grant included adding a downloadable version to the website.  On average, the books are downloaded approximately 400 times per month.  Some may recall receiving them in the Pink Rose Kit in Nova Scotia. By March 2002 the Foundation awarded another  $4,654.24 towards the printing costs, in March 2004, $30,000 was awarded for a second reprint of both books.

By the spring of 2001, BCANS again applied for a Community Health Grant, this time introducing the concept of the Atlantic Breast Cancer Net.  This website would become a clearing house of information for people diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as showcasing medical and holistic expertise in the Atlantic. Writing grant proposals involves weeks and weeks of preparation, writing, creating budgets, contacting organizations for support letters, sleepless nights and stress before you even drop off the numerous copies by the deadline. In July, BCANS was awarded $62,182 for the Web Project.  With this money came the birth of the Atlantic Breast Cancer Net and the continuation of the BCANS website.  

BCANS team members for the CIBC Run for the Cure

Grant writing, reporting, and budgeting continued for the Web Project year after year, as did funding support from the Foundation. This level of funding allowed BCANS to modernize the websites, add new features and ensure that a web resource for the Atlantic Region was maintained. For the Web Project alone, the Foundation has awarded BCANS $386,375.76!

Another partnership with the Foundation included the Breast Cancer Network Nova Scotia Project.  BCANS was awarded $35,667.68 over a two-year period to help sustain provincial outreach and collaboration. This project involved bringing together representatives from the 9 Health Districts across Nova Scotia to share information, resources, and work together on issues that were identified as priority.  

To date, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Atlantic Region has awarded Breast Cancer Action Nova Scotia an amazing total of $476,647.92! The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Atlantic Region has been Breast Cancer Action Nova Scotia's most substantial partner. For this level of partnership BCANS is eternally grateful.  The BCANS projects would not have been possible without this kind of support and faith in our organization. 

Have comments about this article? We'd love to hear from you. Please email us at abcn@abcn.ca!