A Message from our founder
My personal connection to cancer prompted me to start Pine Cone, Inc. (PCI) and request funds from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, North Central Alabama to support PCI’s efforts of breast health education. It is always a challenge when completing request for proposals (RFPs) because you hope that your proposal meets the needs of the community as determined through your research. So, I pulled statistics, journal articles, interviews, and evaluated Pine Cone Inc.’s previous activities to surmise that the target city would benefit from Pine Cone, Inc.’s program, Preventive Cancer Information. Fortunately, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, North Central Alabama concurred, and selected Pine Cone, Inc. as a grant recipient for the said program.
One in seven women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Approximately, 205,000 new cases will be diagnosed each year and an estimated 40,600 women will die.(Dillon, 2003) Even when screening is available and accessible, specific barriers either preclude breast cancer screenings or decrease recidivism. Supported by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, North Central Alabama, Pine Cone Inc.’s grant conducted a quarterly one-day retreat (The first retreat occurred in 2007.) Preventive Cancer Information offers tools to increase internal and external locus of control from a licensed psychologist, and three workshops every month delivering primary prevention information complete with nutritional and psychological assessments to 1)improve access to breast health education and 2) empower the target population with dietary and cognitive information that will encourage a sense of autonomy over their outcome. The program is free and connects participants to centers in the community providing mammography. Pine Cone, Inc. anticipates adding a breast cancer screening component to its efforts in the near future.
Contact us
To make a donation, receive more information or to request a workshop or yoga retreat to be conducted in your area, please contact PCI via surface mail at
PCI
PO Box 8363, Silver Spring, MD 20907
or via e-mail at pineconeinc@email.com.
EIN Number: 13-4310626
Khalilah M. McCants, RN
www.pineconeinc.org
