AWC Board of directors Leigh Villegas, Bettina Hoar, Emma Berger, Jeanette Risco and Barbara Yuravlivker with Ambassador and Mrs. Baxter. Mrs. Kathy Baxter bidding on one of the prizes.

More than US$18,000 was raised for breast cancer prevention in Uruguay during a silent auction held at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Frank Baxter and his wife Kathy on Nov. 16.

Organized by the American Women’s Club of Montevideo (AWC), the event was attended by some 200 guests who bid US$7,500 on prizes in a silent auction, a novel concept in Montevideo. Guests pledged dollars or pesos for each of 65 items, and the top offer for each won that prize. Donated prizes included weekend stays at resorts in Uruguay, plane tickets to the United States, works of art, jewelry, and gift certificates for local retail services and restaurants.

The AWC will donate the proceeds from the event to breast cancer awareness in Uruguay, focusing especially on the distribution of information and education for women in the interior of the country about preventing the disease.

“We are so thankful that you are here tonight to join us in the fight against breast cancer in Uruguay. For some women, tonight is a nightmare because they are struggling with this deadly disease,” said AWC president Bettina Hoar during the event. “With your help, we are contributing to ending breast cancer in this country. Together, we can make a difference,” she said.

Uruguay has one of the world’s highest rates of breast cancer, with the fifth highest number of deaths per capita. For the past three years, the AWC has taken on the task of raising awareness about breast cancer and raising funds for its prevention and treatment.

An AWC member started the annual breast cancer fundraiser in 2005 after her mother died of the disease. The club’s first two fundraisers garnered enough funds to purchase a mammotome, a machine that detects potentially cancerous tissue and extracts it for biopsy in a minimally invasive procedure. The machine is currently being used by breast cancer specialists in Montevideo hospitals.

Funds raised in the AWC’s third annual fundraiser will be distributed among clinics and hospitals throughout the country for the dissemination of information about preventing breast cancer, as well as for treatment programs.

The AWC expects to continue to hold the fundraiser each spring in Montevideo in hopes of contributing to a decrease in breast cancer cases in Uruguay and an increased awareness of ways to prevent the disease in this country.

For more information, visit www.awcmontevideo.org or contact Bettina Hoar at (099) 959 625 or awcmontevideo@yahoo.com.

Leigh Miller / Staff Writer

 
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