Grounds for Health Hopes to Match $200,000 Grant to Help Women in the Coffeelands

Photo courtesy of Grounds for Health.

Vermont-based international NGO Grounds for Health has received a $200,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor, and every dollar raised for GFH programs affecting the coffee-producing countries of Peru, Ethiopia and Kenya will be matched through the end of this year.

Co-founded by coffee industry veteran Dan Cox in 1996, Grounds for Health says it has to this day screened more than 80,000 and treated more than 6,000 women for cervical cancer, primarily in coffee-producing communities in Latin America and Africa. Throughout the past 20 years, the group has received the majority of its support from private partners in the coffee industry.

Photo courtesy of Grounds for Health.

Grounds for Health incorporates an efficient single-visit approach for screening and treatment, providing as much coverage as possible in areas where women’s cervical cancer rates are much higher than global averages, despite it being one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer.

Should the $200,000 challenge grant be matched throughout the remainder of this year, Grounds for Health hopes to improve its programming through the addition of thermocoagulation as a treatment technology, as well as lay the groundwork for incorporating HPV testing into its single-visit model.

Photo courtesy of Grounds for Health.

“Thanks to our anonymous donor and the challenge funds that we hope to raise over the next few months, we will be able to continue to provide prevention services while planning innovations for the future,” Ellen Starr, clinical director at Grounds for Health said in announcement of the challenge grant. “This is a win-win for women where access to basic medical services is limited.”