South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Pap Corps funds vehicle for mobile cancer screening
Representatives from Boca Woods Country Club and Toys for Tots are surrounded by toys the club collected during a donation drive this season.
The Pap Corps, a South Florida-based volunteer cancer fundraising organization, has committed to donating a third Game Changer vehicle to add to its fleet of cancer-screening RVs for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
At the organization’s November Presidents’ Meeting, Pap Corps President Linda Moses announced that it has designated a donation of $500,000 toward the vehicle. The Dr. Kevin Berkowitz Memorial End of Year Giving Campaign will provide the funds that will cover the purchase, customization and two years of operation of the air-conditioned RV, with two private consultation and screening rooms, along with a multimedia center for interactive cancer education.
Not only will the RV provide screenings, education and referrals to underserved residents of Broward and Palm Beach counties, but it will also offer free HIV preventative medication to at-risk individuals.
“Expanding access to cancer screenings that lead to early detection is truly a gamechanger. Early cancer detection is vital to better cancer outcomes and this program has already proven that with their efforts in Monroe and Miami Dade counties,” Pap Corps CEO David Bakelman said in a statement. “The Pap Corps is honored to make this funding commitment to Sylvester and our community.”
The Dr. Kevin Berkowitz Memorial End of Year Giving Campaign is in its fifth year.
The Dr. Kevin Berkowitz Memorial End of Year Giving Campaign will help fund the purchase, retrofit and operation of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s third Game Changer vehicle.
Beverly Berkowitz, Kevin’s mother and Pap Corps’ officer-at-large, created the program to honor her late son.
“I am so proud this year’s campaign will fund this groundbreaking program which has garnered national acclaim and is now being studied and replicated by other cancer institutions,” Berkowitz said in a statement. “There is a tremendous lack of access to formal healthcare for so many in our community. This vehicle will help bridge that disparity.”
For information and to donate to help fund the next Game Changer, visit thepapcorps.org/get-involved/end-of-year-giving/.