Donation to NNEDV

Date:  2/14/2010

In February, 2010, The Mary Kay Foundation made a $300,000 donation to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). The NNEDV serves as the leading voice for domestic violence issues in Congress, the Executive Branch and the Federal Courts.

These funds will help with their core programs, with $200,000 being earmarked for the Amy's Courage Fund, a direct assistance fund created to alleviate the financial constraints that prevent victims of domestic violence from leaving their abusers.

The Foundation is also proud to sponsor the publication, 2009 Domestic Violence Counts: A 24-Hour Census of Domestic Violence Services, which will be given to every member of the U.S. Congress, over 2,000 shelters, and many state legislators and governors. For more information on the NNEDV and the Amy's Courage Fund, visit http://www.nnedv.org.

Shining the Light on Domestic Violence

Date:  10/14/2009

Every October, The Mary Kay Foundation observes National Domestic Violence Awareness Month by awarding grants to deserving women’s shelters. These grants provide services such as counseling, transportation vehicles, emergency shelter, food, clothing and basic needs to domestic violence survivors and their children. On September 20, The Mary Kay Foundation’s annual $3 million shelter grant program was announced and featured on electronic billboards in Times Square New York and the Las Vegas Fashion Mall. The Reuters sign in Times Square is the world’s largest digital sign, with 11 screens totaling over 7,400 square feet. There are 1,500 companies with 231,000 employees in Times Square, and 30 million tourists visit Time Square annually. The Las Vegas Fashion Show mall attracts more than 14 million shoppers annually, with more than 2 million square feet of retail space. Located at the front of the mall, the signs are passed by 100,000 vehicles and 55,000 pedestrians per day.

Foundation Underwrites Survivors and Technology CD

Date:  5/14/2009

The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation and the National Network to End Domestic Violence debuted the first-of-its kind bilingual CD, Survivors and Technology/Sobreviventes y Technologia, designed to help domestic violence shelters, law enforcement and survivors safely plan around technology use, abuse and privacy. Topics covered in this CD range from different ways abusers use technology to stalk their victims to safety tips and strategies survivors can use to make technology work for them.

The newly-released Spanish-language version of this interactive CD addresses how technology can be used by abusers and how victims can use technology to protect themselves. CDs were distributed to domestic violence programs, rape crisis centers, victims advocate groups, prosecutors and attorneys general across the United States.

Developed by the Safety Net Team of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the CD was underwritten by the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.

Cancer Research Breakthrough

Date:  3/15/2009

The March 15, 2009, issue of Genes & Development reported that a study funded in part by the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation produced a cancer research breakthrough. Led by Dr. Roger Greenberg, a 2008 cancer research grant recipient, researchers found that MERIT40, a previously unknown protein, works with other breast cancer genes to help repair damaged DNA.

Under normal conditions, the breast cancer gene BRCA1 orchestrates the repair of damaged DNA. When the BRCA1 gene is mutated and the repair pathway goes haywire, a woman's vulnerability to breast and ovarian cancers rises because the rate at which genes are altered increases.

Understanding how BRCA1 responds to damaged DNA can help scientists better fight cancer with chemotherapy. Further study of MERIT40 may also lead researchers to find other genes that increase vulnerability to breast cancer.

Foundation Funds Breast Surgery Training Program

Date:  8/20/2008

The American Society of Breast Disease has created the Mary Kay Ash Advanced Training Program in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery. The Foundation has awarded a $225,000 grant to support this innovative program to train breast surgeons in the emerging field.

Oncoplastic surgery is a rapidly evolving subspecialty that combines the knowledge and surgical techniques of oncology as well as aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Gail Lebovic, one of the nation’s leading oncoplastic breast surgeons and Director of Women’s Health at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, will serve as the Program Director.

The American Society of Breast Disease, the nation’s only organization serving all healthcare professionals involved in breast cancer and disease diagnosis, treatment, and research, will administer the program.