Cancer group taking apps for grants

Halt Cancer at X, a local nonprofit that raises funds for breast cancer research, educational outreach and support services, is seeking applicants for the 2017 Halt Cancer at X Community Grants.

Nonprofit organizations within the Flathead Valley and surrounding areas are encouraged to apply. Applications are due Monday, Oct. 2.

Grant recipients will be announced later in October in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Established in memory of The Event at Rebecca Farm’s Founder, Rebecca Broussard, her daughter, Sarah Broussard, launched Halt Cancer at X in 2012. The name derives from the dressage test, a division in the sport of Eventing, where the first movement is for the rider to halt the horse at X, a station marked in the arena.

Since 2012, Halt Cancer at X has contributed more than $400,000 in funds to national cancer research and local support services for cancer.

Local groups that benefited last year include Cancer Support Community Kalispell, Flathead Cancer Aid Services, Flathead Valley Cancer Chicks and Save a Sister, an initiative that used funds to establish a screening program for those who may be at high risk for breast cancer. To date, the Save a Sister screening program has helped screen more than 200 patients.

In 2016, Halt Cancer at X also awarded $70,000 to national organizations, including the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

In a study headed by Dr. Robert Mutter, the Mayo Clinic sought to research and develop new combination therapies for those affected by Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), considered one of the more hard-hitting subsets of breast cancer.

Halt Cancer at X’s primary focus is breast cancer, but in the Flathead Valley funds for breast cancer often serve a dual role by providing resources to those with other forms of cancer.

While local funding requests are due Oct. 2, national requests are due Jan. 1. For information on how to apply, visit http://www.rebeccafarm.org/halt-cancer/#how.