The Julie Rogers "Gift of Life" Program is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization located in Beaumont, Texas, serving all of Southeast Texas, including Jefferson, Orange, and Hardin Counties. Operating for more than 12 years, the agency is dedicated to decreasing the incidence of death associated with prostate and breast cancer. Its mission is accomplished through:

• Provision of free mammography and prostate cancer screenings for people of limited financial means who are uninsured and underinsured, along with access to treatment and follow-up care through a referral link with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston; and
   
• Conducting extensive community educational outreach.

This mission has recently expanded to include smoking cessation and prevention.

As one of the largest cancer screening and awareness organizations of its type in Texas, the "Gift of Life" directly serves more than 6,000 recipients annually (in addition to publishing a program newsletter several times a year that is distributed to over 15,000 people in Southeast Texas and beyond).

• Each year, cancer awareness information is disseminated to several thousand individuals at over 50 educational outreach presentations and area health fairs;
   
• Approximately 400 men receive free prostate cancer screenings;
   
• 750 medically underserved women receive free mammograms at Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospitals in Beaumont and Orange; and
   
• 700 additional women are given free mammograms and clinical breast exams on the UTMB-Galveston mobile van at 20 Southeast Texas van sites.

Access to follow-up care for eligible individuals who need testing and treatment following their screenings is also provided. Further, the "Gift of Life" minivan is available for clients who require transportation to and from the program's cancer screening tests and exams.

The "Gift of Life" offers multiple yearly programs, including the following:

• a Survivors' Celebration honoring breast and prostate cancer survivors;
   
• a Health Forum for medical professionals, with approximately 650 attendees (a cancer-related topic is chosen each year, such as 2004's focus on prostate cancer and this year's concentration on smoking prevention and cessation); and
   
• the Breast Cancer Awareness Month Kickoff and related activities throughout the month of October.

Program services were expanded in 2004 to include these initiatives:

• ASPIRE, A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience, featuring M. D. Anderson Cancer Center-developed curriculum introduced into Beaumont Independent School District 9th grade health classes;
   
• the Prostate Cancer Support Group, created in association with the American Cancer Society, which meets monthly and now includes more than 50 members;
   
• the Testicular Cancer Outreach Program presented to senior males at area high schools; and
   
• a Heightened Cancer Awareness Campaign during both Prostate and Breast Cancer Awareness Months that includes billboards, bench bulletins at bus stops, yard signs, community posters (in English and Spanish), library displays, and a partnership with McDonald's and Golden Triangle Cycle Center, resulting in more than 15,000 trayliners that offer special breast and prostate cancer messages used at all 24 Southeast Texas McDonald's locations.

"Don't Smoke Your Life Away," a community-wide anti-smoking campaign targeting both adults and adolescents was launched in 2005.

Since the program's inception, it has funded more than 11,300 free mammograms and 3,600 free prostate cancer screenings, and has conducted almost 400 educational outreach programs.

A cooperative effort of Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospitals, the Julie & Ben Rogers Cancer Institute, the Dauphin Cancer Screening & Prevention Center, local physicians, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston and its local clinics, the UTMB Cancer Stop Program, and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the "Gift of Life" has funded more than 11,300 free mammograms and 3,600 free prostate cancer screenings, and has conducted almost 400 educational outreach programs since its inception.