Pink Gravel Fund

Goal: $10,125.00

Mission

The Pink Gravel Fund promotes breast cancer awareness among the active through supporting, riding and positive vibing.  

Profile

"In the beginning, Pink Gravel was Amy's way to stay involved with the gravel family during chemo and radiation itreatments for breast cancer in the spring of 2020.  Pink Gravel had only been an idea in Amy's brain up until the fall of 2020 when friends from Marysville put Pink Gravel front and center on their gravel dash volunteer shirts.  Over the next couple of years,  Jon and Amy decided they wanted to use Pink Gravel to help other people that have been sidelined by breast cancer as Amy had been.  

The Pink Gravel Crew attended several gravel and community events promoting breast cancer awareness, the Pink Gravel Fund and the work we are doing.  Contributions received for their help at events from the sale of Pink Gravel t-shirts became the seed money used to open the Pink Gravel Fund with the Emporia Community Foundation in October of 2021.  In October of 2023, the grant became available to qualified applicants."

It was my (Amy's) personal experience with breast cancer and love for gravel cycling that this Pink Gravel machine was born. 

Since October 2021, Jon and I have traveled to several gravel events and expos in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, and of course, Kansas.  We have met many cancer survivors of all types who have shared their stories with us.  

The Pink Gravel Fund finally gave out it's first grants last year.  It has been a slow road as several in the midst of their own treatments will tell me that "there is someone that needs it more."  Pink Gravel grants are for those that have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Period.  No one is being compared to a scale of who needs it more.  

This year with the help of ECF, the Pink Gravel Fund is in process of setting up a partnership with the Morris County Hospital (MCH) and Clinics in using the Pink Gravel Fund grants to cover the cost of provider referred mammograms to uninsured or underinsured individuals.  While the state of Kansas does offer assistance for this via Early Detection Works (EDW), the EDW program is limited to those that fit within a specific age range and income level.  The Pink Gravel Fund grants do not have those restrictions.  This idea came to us after talking to people all over the midwest, women specifically are developing breast cancer at younger ages.  It is common that a person with an abnormal scan may need to have a second or third mammogram; most insurance providers only cover 1 per year.  Research shows that the average cost of a standard (2D) mammogram runs between $190 - $250; a 3D mammogram costs an average of $375.  This fits with our current grant level, promotes awareness, and encourages routine breast care.

Therefore, THIS YEAR the funds raised from your generous donations during ECF Match Days, will be earmarked for this specific grant type request.  Our goal is to raise enough funds to cover 27 mammograms based on an average cost of $375 each.  

With this new opportunity to help more people; we are pushing hard to make our goal this Emporia Area Match Day 2026.

Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about the Pink Gravel Fund.  Please remember that for every $375 donated this November, that donation is MATCHED and can pay for a mammogram screening.

Huge thanks to the Emporia Community Foundation Board, the Matching Donors, ECF Staff and all those that give their time and dollars to make Emporia Match Days 2026 happen.