In the fall of 1995, a group of women from Centre County formed a committee to work with the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition to host the photo exhibit “67 Women – 67 Counties, Facing Breast Cancer in Pennsylvania.” The event took place in May 1996 and was a huge success.  Shortly thereafter, the committee worked with the U.S. Post Office and the American Philatelic Society to plan a day of activities to commemorate the first-day issue of the newly designated Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp. This too was successful, and since Centre County was in the top 1/3 in the state for incidence of breast cancer, the committee discussed the possibility of developing a Coalition in Centre County. Women from the county came together and formed the Centre County Breast Cancer Coalition (CCBCC).

One in eight women will get breast cancer during her lifetime, and every 12 minutes a woman dies from breast cancer. About 1 percent of all cancers occur in men and about 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.  Since early screening and detection is key to curing breast cancer, the Coalition developed a mission of increasing early screening and detection for breast cancer among people living in Centre County by developing strategies of helping overcome the barriers of obtaining effective breast care services.

One of those barriers is lack of funds for a mammogram. The Coalition has made a commitment to fund mammograms for residents of Centre County who are uninsured or underinsured and who meet financial guidelines.

The CCBCC is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization. with a 501(c)(3) status.