Alivio Medical Center has been selected as a candidate for the LIVESTRONG® Community Impact Project, which was created to bring proven cancer support programs to communities across the United States. Finalists will be determined through an online voting campaign. Applicants with the top votes per region will receive a financial award of support to replicate and implement a sustainable program dedicated to supporting families fighting cancer. Finalists will also receive tools and resources from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the organization established in 1997 by the cancer survivor and champion cyclist to serve people living with cancer and empower communities to take action against the world’s leading cause of death. The foundation is now known publicly by its powerful brand – LIVESTRONG – and is a leader in the global movement on behalf of 28 million people around the world living with cancer today.

Alivio Medical Center is among hundreds of organizations still in competing for the award. If selected, Alivio Medical Center will use the awarded funds to provide health education and outreach in the areas of prostate, colorectal, breast and cervical cancer to the Latino, predominantly Mexican communities of Chicago’s lower west side. Alivio Medical Center will accomplish this via the Compañeros en Salud, peer health promoters. The Compañeros en Salud are community members of Alivio’s target population, who are trained to be health advocates. They are taught how to perform simple disease screening tests, (such as blood pressure and body mass index), and how speak to groups of people about healthy behaviors and life style change. Voting ends on May 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. CST. For more information about the LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project and to vote, visit http://vote.livestrong.org.