Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation Receives $100,000 Gift from Mauti Cancer Fund

BATON ROUGE, La. – Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation has received a $100,000 gift from the Mauti Cancer Fund, establishing the Mauti Cancer Endowment Fund. The fund will support Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s ongoing efforts in promoting cancer prevention through a variety of screening events and educational opportunities.

This is the latest support offered by Rich Mauti and the Mauti Cancer Fund. Since 2005, the organization has donated more than $150,000 to support cancer prevention and efforts to educate communities about the importance of early detection. Together, the Mauti Cancer Fund and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center have been at the forefront of providing access to preventive care screenings to communities across the Northshore and in South Louisiana’s Bayou Region.

“Early detection is key to improving survivorship, a pillar of Mary Bird Perkins’ mission,” said Rich Mauti. “By detecting cancers earlier, we can improve outcomes in communities across Louisiana. The more screening events we hold, the more residents we are reaching, meaning the potential for more cases to be detected earlier.”

Rich Mauti, former NFL player and founder of the Mauti Cancer Fund, lost his father to lung cancer in 1979. Shortly after his father’s passing, Mr. Mauti began his commitment to fundraising. Throughout his NFL career with the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins, Mauti spearheaded various efforts with multiple organizations, raising tens of thousands of dollars for cancer prevention. With his Louisiana roots in mind, Mauti wanted to stay loyal to his home state. In 1981, he started the non-profit, Rich Mauti Cancer Fund, which has remained 100 percent volunteer-based to this day. In 1989, the Rich Mauti Cancer Fund launched its mobile screening van, which offered cancer screenings and education to people in the community.

Over the past decade, the Mauti Cancer Fund has provided funding and support that have translated into thousands of individual screenings, the vast majority along the Northshore and Bayou Region. These free screenings are open and available to anyone in the community – especially to those who are traditionally underserved or may not have access to health insurance coverage. Community screening events provide an opportunity for early cancer detection, and if an abnormality is found, Mary Bird Perkins navigators guide the patient through next steps.

“Providing cancer screenings to communities that face barriers to healthcare is at the heart of what we do,” said Renea Duffin, vice president, cancer support and outreach, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “Without supporters like Rich Mauti and the Mauti Cancer Fund, our reach would not cover wide swaths of Louisiana and portions of Mississippi. When a donor understands the critical role of early detection and prevention, our message is made that much stronger.”

For more than 44 years, the Mauti Cancer Fund has led the way in Louisiana in its dedication to fight cancer and educate the public on cancer prevention, detection and treatment. For more information, visit mauticancerfund.org.

 

About Mauti Cancer Fund                                                                                                       In 2005, Rich Mauti Cancer Fund and Mary Bird Perkins began their partnership, with Rich lending the Fund’s mobile screening unit and covering the operating expenses for 15 community screenings. Within 16 years, the Mauti Cancer Fund provided more than $150,000 in generous support to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center prevention and education efforts as well as helping to remove care barriers for the communities in Northshore and in the Bayou Region. The RMCF has raised more than $3.5 million in 44 years for our cancer community. For more information, please visit mauticancerfund.org.

About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for more than 50 years. The cancer care organization provides care at nine centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Gonzales, Hammond, Houma, Slidell, and Natchez, Mississippi, and its service area encompasses southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi regions. Mary Bird Perkins has a strategic affiliation with OneOncology and the largest radiation and medical oncology groups from across the area including exclusive partnerships with Southeastern Louisiana Radiation Oncology Group, which provides radiation therapy throughout Mary Bird Perkins’ service areas, Northshore Oncology Associates, serving St. Tammany and Washington Parishes, specifically the communities of Covington and Slidell and Louisiana Hematology Oncology Associates, which services the Greater Baton Rouge area. For more information, please visit www.marybird.org.