Bonnie's Bus--cancer disparities in West Virginia, philanthropy and opportunities to build lasting partnerships.

The State of West Virginia (WV) has significant cancer health disparities, substantiated by the fourth highest cancer mortality rate in the nation. In October 2007, Jo and Ben Statler donated $5 million dollars to the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center to establish a mobile mammography program (Bonnie's Bus) and endowed research positions at West Virginia University. This opportunity paved the way for an additional $2.5 million dollars of funding through a match program afforded the by WV Eminent Scholars Program and $700,000 of private foundation (Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Claude Worthington Benedum) support to begin to craft a statewide clinical trials network linked to Bonnie's Bus to provide new access to state-of-the-art clinical trials for residents of WV. Philanthropic gifts, as illustrated by the Statler gift, provide momentum for academic research and health care programs and new opportunities await through another legislative initiative--the WV Research Trust Fund. The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center is working to address cancer health disparities in the state of WV.