FENTON, MO – Thanks to the like-minded support and generosity of two individuals, one painting is helping two different nonprofit organizations in the fight against breast cancer in the St. Louis community.
Erica Kavanagh, a local artist who has lost several family members to cancer, created a painting – titled “Survivor” – with the intention of donating the proceeds to the St. Louis Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. She auctioned the painting on eBay, with bids closing the day before the June 12 Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure®.
The painting shows a woman, arms outstretched, portraying a feeling of accomplishment and victory being five years cancer-free.
The high bidder – Bill Mahler, a Fenton firefighter/EMT – paid Kavanagh $250 for the painting. Kavanagh is matching those funds, for a donation of $500 to Komen St. Louis Affiliate.
Mahler and his wife, Mary, in turn, are donating the painting to SSM Breast Care at SSM St. Clare Health Center. The painting will be installed in the women’s center reception area for the enjoyment of patients and visitors.
The Mahlers were prompted to make the donation after reading a newspaper article about the Affiliate’s $61,000 donation to SSM Breast Care at St. Clare Health Center. Specifically, the grant supports the hospital’s Women’s Information and Screening Endeavor (WISE) program.
St. Clare’s WISE program provides free mammograms, breast education and care coordination for women who are 40 years of age and older and who do not have insurance, or who have insurance that does not pay for screenings. The WISE program recruits women living along the I-44 corridor in St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties.
Mahler, a civic-minded individual, wanted to express support for St. Clare Health Center and its efforts toward helping women in his community.
About the Artist, Erica Kavanagh
Kavanagh has been a full-time artist since 2002. She earned her associate’s of art degree from Jefferson College in 1999. Kavanagh’s work, including “Survivor,” may be viewed on her Web site: www.born2paint.com.
About Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Komen St. Louis Affiliate
Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, and the St. Louis Affiliate is one of 125 Affiliates on the front lines dedicated to ending breast cancer in their communities. Komen Affiliates fund innovative programs that help women and men overcome the cultural, social, educational and financial barriers to breast cancer screening and treatment.
Through events like the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, the St. Louis Affiliate has invested more than $13 million in community breast cancer programs in 17 counties. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stays in the St. Louis area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research. For more information, call 314-569-3900 or visit www.komenstlouis.org.
About SSM St. Clare Health Center
SSM St. Clare Health Center is located at 1015 Bowles Ave., Fenton, MO 63026. The campus – complete with a 154-bed hospital (soon-to-be 174 beds), SSM Heart Institute, SSM Neurosciences Institute, SSM Cancer Care, Ambulatory Surgery Center, Outpatient Procedure Center, Outpatient Diagnostic Center and Medical Office Building – is serving the needs of a rapidly expanding population in southwest St. Louis County. To learn more about the health center, visit ssmstclare.com.
For more information, contact:
Diane McKillip, Manager
Marketing & Communications
SSM St. Clare Health Center
636-496-2525 (office) 
The people in the photo are (from left): Mary & Bill Mahler, the couple who purchased the painting and donated it to St. Clare; Rachel Covington, Executive Director of the St. Clare Foundation (accepting the painting); and artist Erica Kavanagh.