November 14, 2012 — Belk, the nation's largest privately operated department store, is launching the BelkGives On The Go Mobile Mammography Center in partnership with Charlotte Radiology and Foundation For The Carolinas. This mobile mammography center will bring testing and awareness to all Belk markets, beginning in 116 stores throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Belk's $6 million investment in the program is the company's single largest charitable contribution to date. Belk is the only retailer of its kind to form a partnership alongside community and health organizations by extending breast cancer screening services and increasing breast cancer awareness through its own operation.
"For many years Belk has supported breast cancer awareness and research with specialty products, store grassroots efforts and corporate financial donations," said Tim Belk, chairman and CEO of Belk. "We know we can save lives by increasing awareness for this disease that affects so many of our associate and customer families."
The BelkGives On The Go Mobile Mammography Center will be unveiled at the Belk Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 27, at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., and will hit the road Jan. 28, 2013.
The BelkGives On The Go Mobile Mammography Center — a 39-foot-long screening center on wheels — features a large registration area and private dressing rooms that lead directly into the digital mammography examination room. The BelkGives On The Go Mobile Mammography Center will be on the road 248 days in 2013, spending two days in each Belk market. To fund the program, Belk partnered with Foundation For The Carolinas to establish the Belk Women's Health Fund. This fund will cover all of the costs associated with the center as well as any out-of-pocket costs to women who are screened.
"The Belk program is important because early detection saves lives. Early detection gives women more treatment options, including reduced surgery and better cosmetic outcomes, and often reduces the need for harsh chemotherapy," said Matthew Gromet, Charlotte Radiology physician and section chief of mammography services. "This safe screening tool has contributed to the improved breast cancer mortality rate in the United States, which has declined by 30 percent since 1990 when annual screening was introduced."
The Center for Corporate Philanthropy at Foundation For The Carolinas is facilitating the charitable program for Belk, and together they have chosen Charlotte Radiology to manage and deliver high-quality screening mammography in the communities Belk serves. "We are excited to be involved in Belk's efforts to increase breast cancer education and access to screening mammography," said Gromet. "And we are strongly committed to bringing life-saving mammography screenings to communities with limited access."
For more information: www.belk.com
July 29, 2024 
