Colorado Cancer Fund

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Colorado Cancer Fund

Consider donating on line 12

to improve the lives of cancer patients.

The Colorado Cancer Fund is line 12 on the Voluntary Contribution state tax form. Fund prevention, research, hope and more!

Give $12 on line 12

Support vital programs for cancer patients & caregivers

Donate on line 12 of your 2022 state taxes!

The Colorado Cancer Fund is a voluntary check-off program on the Colorado State Income Tax Form. The goal of the Colorado Cancer Fund is to help reduce the burden of cancer in Colorado by improving early detection and expanding existing education, screening and quality of life services throughout Colorado for populations who are currently underserved.

The Fund was developed by advocates who are passionate about preventing uninsured and underinsured people from falling through the cracks in the social safety net. The Colorado Cancer Fund evolved from the former Breast and Women’s Reproductive Cancers Fund.

The Colorado Cancer Fund addresses the significant screening and survivorship needs for Coloradans impacted by cancer. The intention of the Colorado Cancer Fund is to complement, not duplicate, current services.

The Colorado Cancer Fund revenues are distributed via a competitive grants program.

How do you donate to the Colorado Cancer Fund?

Complete form DR 0104CH Voluntary Contributions Schedule to contribute on line 12, which is the Colorado Cancer Fund.

2019-2020 Colorado Cancer Fund Grantees

In 2019, the Colorado Cancer Fund review committee identified 11 applications that were fundable. The Colorado Cancer fund prioritized 8 projects for funding,  and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was able to fund the remaining 3 projects through Cancer Plan Implementation funds from the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program*. A total of $77,872.30 was distributed through the following organizations to implement the Colorado Cancer Plan.

The Alliance will work to increase reach of campaign materials to parents of 11-17 year olds in Spanish-speaking and rural/frontier communities . In order to best serve our
communities, we need to understand the most effective strategies for messaging and messaging channels for the diverse communities the Alliance covers. Rural/frontier communities have comparatively low HPV vaccination rates that in time will lead to disparate cancer rates and Latinas are at greater risk for being diagnosed with cervical cancer. With this project, the Alliance aims to address these health inequities in the region.

Common side effects of cancer treatment include cachexia (muscle wasting) and fatigue, as well as feelings of social isolation and poor quality of life. Rural, geographically isolated areas with large low-income and Hispanic populations such as the San Luis Valley (SLV) in south-central Colorado, designated a Medically Underserved Population/Area, often
lack cancer survivor support. Adams State University (ASU) and SLV Health will  recruit up to 120 adult cancer survivor residing in the SLV will have participate in a 10-week, supervised, individualized and progressive group physical activity intervention aimed at improving their physical, mental and social health.

Montrose Memorial Hospital will start a general cancer support group for cancer patients.

Spanish language materials explaining the benefit of exercise. And money towards a Spanish speaking retreat.

Remove barriers to Hepatitis B and HPV vaccine uptake among immigrants and refugees in Colorado with the long term goal of reducing Hepatitis B and HPV-related cancers among this traditionally underserved population. We will carry out activities that enhance community-clinical linkages, as well as improve HepB and HPV vaccination knowledge and education and associated linkages to screening and treatment, among the refugee and immigrant community and the providers serving them.

Training and expanded provision of reiki and healing touch throughout Metro Denver locations.

Creation of advanced Motivational Interviewing workshops to continue the prior work from 2018 to increase cancer screening rates in undeserved populations.

Skin cancer education programming and materials provided at Moffat County schools.

In utilization of culturally relevant information and education for the Spanish speaking population; this will include in-house training for Clinic Assistants and Health Navigators to provide appropriate education efforts. Second, FIT cards will be available in-house at no cost to Care Card (sliding fee scale) patients to facilitate screening. New workflows will  be created to give patients a “due by” date by which they need to return their FIT card to the clinic.

Breast cancer screening and early detection strategies for low income latinas in Denver.

Provide skin cancer awareness and prevention education (with the use of Cross-Polarized Light camera) for Denver’s western suburbs and nearby foothills communities.

2018-2019 Colorado Cancer Fund Grantees

In 2018, the Colorado Cancer Fund review committee identified 18 applications that were fundable. The Colorado Cancer fund prioritized 12 projects for funding,  and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was able to fund the remaining 6 projects through Cancer Plan Implementation funds from the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program*. A total of $81,163 will be distributed through the following organizations to implement the Colorado Cancer Plan.

The HPV Vaccination Task Force will develop and implement a provider training to be used throughout the state of Colorado. The training will teach providers to use motivational interviewing in combination with a strong provider recommendation to increase HPV vaccine rates in their patients and communities. Our goal is that providers and clinical staff will gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to interact with parents, especially vaccine hesitant
parents. The Task Force will collaborate with the American Cancer Society, Alliance for HPV Free Colorado (Alliance) and other organizations (to be identified) for both the design and implementation of the training.

The Preventing Skin Cancer in Western Colorado project will serve Colorado’s Grand Valley and broader Western Colorado, targeting Garfield, Mesa, Delta, and Montrose counties. Within this vast region, the project will target individuals of all ages who engage in outdoor recreation; residents and visitors to this region engage in outdoor recreation more frequently than in nearly any other region in the state. At elevation ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 feet, ultraviolet radiation in Northwest Colorado is 20% to 120% more intense than at sea level, and the effect of this radiation is evident in the diagnosis rate of melanoma skin cancers, which are 113% higher in the targeted counties than the statewide average. The rate of melanoma is so high that skin cancer prevention was identified as a concern in Mesa County’s 2015 Community Health Needs Assessment.

The project, implemented by St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, will extend the evidence-based use of Cross-Polarized Light (CPL) photography to the Western Slope to provide skin cancer prevention focused outreach and education among children, young adults and adults. The goal of the project is to increase awareness of skin cancer prevention and increase skin cancer prevention behaviors among children, adolescents and adults in urban, rural, and frontier communities in Western Colorado.

¡Vivir!: A Retreat for Latino Cancer Survivors and Their Caregivers is a pilot project that provides a culturally responsive 2 day retreat designed to accommodate and educate Latino cancer survivors on healthy living.

RMCA provides temporary financial assistance to low-income Colorado cancer patients so that they can maintain their dignity and quality of life while in treatment. Our objective is to reduce this stress whenever possible and help ensure that patients can continue their treatment.
RMCA’s Financial Assistance program focuses on household expenses, such as mortgage payments, rent, utilities, groceries, transportation costs, and COBRA payments to ensure that patients do not have to make a difficult decision between supporting their family’s needs and cancer treatment.

The Alliance of Colorado Community Health Workers, Patient Navigators and Promotores de Salud (“The Alliance”) goal of the project is to improve knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of 75 Patient navigators who work on cancer screening programs in geographic regions outside the Metro Denver Area to reduce barriers affecting cancer screening among underserved rural community members.

The Colorectal Cancer Task Force will conduct an Environmental Scan and facilitate a Symposium with stakeholders across the state to create a plan for establishing a system of referrals for underinsured and uninsured individuals to improve access to colorectal cancer screening, diagnostic, and treatment services.

This grant will support human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and HPV immunizations for low-income, primarily Latinas and Latinos from the Denver metro region. Latinas have the highest incidence and the second-highest mortality rate from cervical cancer compared with other women in the nation.

Proper nutrition is a critical component of cancer care, as it supports the body’s ability to heal and withstand treatment. Unfortunately, side effects from illness and treatment, including fatigue and changes in taste/appetite, make it challenging for cancer patients to access and prepare healthy meals. Research shows that malnutrition increases mortality for Coloradans facing cancer.
In an effort to address this issue in our community, Project Angel Heart prepares and delivers nutritious meals, at no cost, to Metropolitan Denver residents living with cancer. Our meals are freshly prepared by professional chefs, approved by a registered dietitian, and medically tailored to meet evidence-based dietary guidelines and address clients’ medical diagnosis, symptoms, and side effects. As such, they improve clients’ health and quality of life, helping to meet the Colorado Cancer Fund’s goal of reducing the overall burden of cancer in Colorado.

HPV Education in the Latino and Immigrant Community will utilize Community Health Workers (CHW)/ “Promotoras de Salud,” to help increase the knowledge of HPV vaccinations in children and women in the Latino and Immigrant communities in the Denver Metropolitan area through culturally appropriate community outreach and education.

This grant will improve the quality of life of at least 50 American Indian (AI) cancer survivors living in the Denver Metro Area by encouraging healthy behaviors through education and navigation. Native American Cancer Research Corporation (NACR) will provide four educational sessions for AI cancer survivors focusing on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a way to decrease the risk of cancer recurrence, side effects from treatment, additional primary cancers and/or other co-morbidities. The sessions will be (1) Energy Balance and (2) Eating Healthy (3) The Screenable Cancers – Breast, Colon, Cervix,
and Prostate, and (4) Quality of Life: Long Term Self-Care.

Living Journeys is a local nonprofit organization serving Gunnison County residents affected by cancer. Geographically isolated, with no radiation services at Gunnison Valley Hospital and limited oncology specialists, living in Gunnison County makes it exceptionally difficult for oncology patients to receive cancer treatments. Living Journeys is the only organization in Gunnison County serving all cancer types offering support to hundreds of Gunnison County residents each year.

Provide guidance in self-care, self-advocacy, and personal growth in a supportive environment through professional coaching for breast cancer survivors who have recently finished cancer treatment (within the last 2 years).

Misconceptions such as being “tan” and attractiveness beliefs, low socioeconomic status, limited access to healthcare and a scarcity of culturally appropriate interventions contribute to the soaring melanoma incidence among Hispanics, who have a substantially higher proportion of advanced stage melanomas compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Creating health equity is a priority for Servicios de La Raza. By health equity, we mean everyone has the opportunity to attain their highest level of health. Therefore, to produce a cognitive and behavioral change that will reduce the risk of skin cancer and the diagnosis of advanced melanoma in Hispanic adults in Colorado, we will apply a promotora-based culturally and linguistically appropriate educational intervention in Denver, Adams and Pueblo Counties.

This project will allow Memorial Regional Health to provide free cervical cancer screenings to women in Moffat County who live at less than 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). From a macroscopic view, this project will work to improve the percentage of underprivileged local women between the ages of 21 and 65 who receive regular cervical cancer screenings. MRH’s objectives will center on providing patients with the following two services: office visits, including cervical histories and Pap smear tests; and Human Papillomavirus Infection (HPV) genotyping tests. The organization will provide these services at its applicable facilities in Craig and at its new repurposed clinic space in the small Moffat County town of Dinosaur, which is approximately 90 miles west of Craig. In addition to these services for cervical cancer screenings, this project will also develop and host two free community events that emphasize self-care tools and education in this essential service area for women.

Steady improvements in cancer screening and treatment have lead to increased long-term survival rates in recent years. More than two-thirds of the 22,000+ people in Colorado diagnosed with cancer annually can expect to live for five years or longer. Cancer can be classified as a chronic disease for many, making survivorship and palliative care services more important than ever.
The primary aim of this project is to raise awareness of palliative care and associated services among cancer patients and caregivers in Colorado via plain-language written educational materials. Patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers may be wary of discussing palliative care due to fear of “giving up.” However, palliative care has been demonstrated to improve quality of life, reduce emergency department visits, and prolong survival in cancer patients. Palliative care and curative treatment are not mutually exclusive. Destigmatization is necessary in order to increase the utilization of palliative care services and improve quality of life for cancer patients; education serves to further this goal.

Empowering, educating, and arming patients & survivors with reachable tools and resources to help them live value-based, enriched, & meaningful lives. Mini workshops to accomplish this in Southwest Colorado

Prostate screening education and supplies in Huerfano County.

2016 Colorado Cancer Fund Grantees

The Cervical Cancer Screening project is funded through Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ Steamboat Springs and Glenwood Springs Health Centers: To ensure that at least 15 women whose clinical results indicate the need for a colposcopy can receive this cervical cancer screening procedure at low or no cost.  These women will have considerable healthcare needs and few financial resources.

To educate survivors of ovarian cancer on the hereditary risks in ovarian cancer, to increase the numbers of women who are survivors of ovarian cancer getting genetic counseling and testing, and to prevent ovarian cancer in blood relatives of women who test positive for hereditary ovarian cancer.

This grant seeks to provide free medical cannabis education to Colorado cancer nonprofits and organizations listed in the Colorado Cancer Resources Directory to empower cancer patients to make an educated decision on whether cannabis treatment is right for them.

They will partner ten low-income patients with LifeSpark providers for one-hour sessions weekly for twelve weeks.

This project will fund two weekend retreats for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Participants hike to one of two remote cabins high in the central Rockies, and spend two nights relaxing, and developing insights that help in the transition to finding a “new normal”.

Proposed by the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. The researchers suggest that their proposed study could help to understand the unique molecular characteristics of these patients’ individual tumors and yield meaningful information that could rapidly translate into improved outcomes.

Funding of this organization will provide assistance to ten individuals seeking assistance from RMCA over the next year, offering relief from their household expenses during treatment.

Lutheran Hospital Association of the San Luis Valley, dba San Luis Valley Health: Their proposal seeks to send two staff members to training sponsored by the National Cancer Institute in New York City, to lead to the development of survivorship services in the south, central rural region of Colorado.

To provide nutritious food for campers at the Colorado Resident camps, a week-long adventure camp for adult cancer survivors.

This grant will provide seed money to help in their efforts to create a financial management education seminar for cancer patients

They serve 45,230 medically-tailored home-delivered meals, free of charge, to 400 food insecure metropolitan Denver residents living with cancer.  All of the grant money will good toward food, packaging and distribution.