GREENFIELD — Sometimes a license plate is much more than just a license plate.
Since the Breast Cancer Awareness plate was first made available to Hoosiers in 2002, $7 million has been distributed by the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust to organizations throughout the state for breast cancer screening, diagnostic and support services not otherwise available to medically underserved populations.
Hancock Health Women’s Clinic was among the recipients this year, marking the fifth year in a row it has been awarded the competitive grant.
Located within the James T. Anderson, M.D., Center for Women’s Health at Hancock Regional Hospital, the clinic provides breast and pelvic exams, pap smears, contraception, hormone replacement, biopsies when needed, and STD testing and treatment.
The clinic’s coordinator, Becky Pohland, said this year’s grant from the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust will enable the clinic to continue providing affordable, lifesaving women’s healthcare services in Hancock County.
“We are grateful and honored to have been selected as a 2025 grant recipient…,” Pohland said.
“During the past four years, this funding has allowed us to provide 185 breast health services for 109 uninsured and underinsured women in seven central Indiana counties. These services range from screening (mammograms and clinical breast exams) to diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds, breast MRIs and breast biopsies. Many of these patients would have foregone these valuable tests without the financial assistance they received from our (trust) funding,” she said.
Hancock Health Women’s Clinic exists to fill a gap in healthcare for Central Indiana women and aims to serve those who are at-risk and are either underinsured or uninsured.
Pohland said the clinic’s team works tirelessly each year to secure funding to ensure all women within the Hancock County community and surrounding areas have access to basic women’s health and preventive services.
Women helping women
The clinic gets the majority of its support through Women Helping Women, a nonprofit run through Hancock Health Foundation designed to support the clinic throughout the year.
“It’s wonderful that the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust recognizes the importance of our women’s clinic and continues to provide funding through their grant program,” said Allyson Smith, executive director of Hancock Health Foundation.
“As much as Women Helping Women has grown and the funds we raise for the clinic increases year after year, it still does not cover all the operating costs, so having supplementary funding from grants like this is crucial,” Smith said. “Not only that, but it demonstrates a commitment from partners at a statewide level to the success of our women’s clinic and the value they see in the services we’re providing to women in need across East Central Indiana.”
The Breast Cancer Awareness Trust has been selling its iconic pink ribbon license plates since 2002. It’s just one of a wide variety of organizational license plates available through the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
In addition to the $7 million in grants awarded over the years, the trust has also given away more than $131,500 in scholarships to high school seniors who have lost a parent to breast cancer or have a parent currently battling the disease.
The mission of the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust is to increase awareness and improve access to breast cancer screening, diagnosis and support services throughout Indiana.
Indiana residents may purchase an Indiana breast cancer awareness license plate by visiting any Indiana BMV branch, visiting IN.gov/BMV or stopping by a BMV Connect kiosk. There are kiosks outside the Greenfield and McCordsville BMV branches.
The plates carry an annual $40 fee, $25 of which is a direct tax-deductible donation. The plate may be purchased for display on passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles, trucks with a declared gross weight of not more than 11,000 pounds, and recreational vehicles.
The Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness license plate was the brainchild of the late Nancy Jaynes, who taught family and consumer sciences at Plymouth High School in Indiana.
Jaynes’ battle with breast cancer ended with her death in March 2008, but her vision for the special recognition license plates lives on — that they serve as a traveling billboard and reminder of the importance of early detection of breast cancer, making a difference for thousands of Hoosiers.
HOW TO HELP
For more information or to make a direct donation to the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust, please visit BreastCancerPlate.org.
For more information on the Women’s Clinic and its impact on the community, visit hancockhealth.org.
Those interested in receiving care at the Women’s Clinic can call 317-468-4641 or email [email protected]. Patients may be asked to provide proof of financial status prior to receiving care.
