The Big Pink Bus Campaign

Bringing 3D mammograms to you

The Big Pink Bus will offer close
convenient, and affordable 3D
mammography.

Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center will launch a mobile mammography unit called The Big Pink Bus, offering convenient access to high-quality screening and patient navigation to help women through the health care continuum: from outreach and education, risk reduction, screening and detection, diagnosis and treatment, through to survivorship or end-of-life care. Mobile mammography can reduce healthcare disparities by bringing care to communities that may lack nearby access, education and information, and/or transportation, and increase screening rates among all women by minimizing disruption to their professional and/ or family obligations. In the first year, the goal for The Big Pink Bus is to be scheduled 200 days in the community with 20 mammograms per day, reaching approximately 4,000 women. Women who choose mobile mammography can expect the same exceptional patient care they would experience at one of Banner MD Anderson’s mammography imaging locations. Scheduling, testing, follow-up, and referrals will be a seamless experience, and patients will have expedited access to Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center’s specialized breast oncologists and surgeons. All mammograms are interpreted by radiologists who are specifically trained to read mammograms, and all Banner MD Anderson radiologists are faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the top-ranked cancer centers in the nation.

Philanthropic Investment Opportunity

We need your support to make this vision a reality! The Big Pink Bus requires $1 million in philanthropic support. Gifts will provide immediate access to potentially life-saving screenings to some 4,000 women in the first year—including your daughters, sisters, mothers, co-workers, friends, and neighbors across the Valley. Donor recognition opportunities are available on the unit.

To join us in recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

• Visit your local Bashas’ or Food City store to make a donation at the register or by purchasing Bashas’ pink-labeled water bottles.
• Make a donation to support The Big Pink Bus. Every donation counts as we strive to get this mission in motion as soon as possible. With your support, we can continue Banner MD Anderson’s commitment to Make Cancer History.

Stories of Hope

“Because I lost my sister to breast cancer at a young age, I’ve been getting regular mammograms since I was 21. After 25 years of normal results, I got so confident that I almost skipped it in 2020 because I didn’t have the time. It’s a good thing I didn’t, because this was the year my mammogram showed breast cancer. Genetic testing showed I carry the BRCA2 and HOXB13 genes, which means my son and any future grandsons have a higher risk for male breast cancer. This was critically important information for our family to learn so we can take steps to prevent and detect cancer early. After surgery and medication that I will take for the next 10 years, I am now cancer-free. I’m so grateful to Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center for the amazing care I received throughout my journey. The Big Pink Bus will make it so that busy working women like me will have easy access and no excuse to skip their mammograms. It could save their life, as it did mine.”

-Tracy Lloyd, 47
Breast cancer survivor
Mesa, Arizona

“I felt what I thought was a clogged milk duct as I was beginning to wean my infant daughter from breastfeeding. Because I was just 32 at the time, I wasn’t due for my first mammogram for another eight years. My doctor and I didn’t take any chances. Mammography, ultrasound imaging, and a biopsy revealed Triple Negative Breast Cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that does not respond to hormonal therapies. I was treated with six months of chemotherapy followed by a double mastectomy and radiation. Early detection saved my life, and now my two younger sisters are able to get routine mammograms before age 40 because of my diagnosis. I am living proof that breast cancer does not discriminate; it can affect anyone. That’s why it’s so important to make mammograms easily accessible to all women, especially those who may struggle to access health care.”

-Sarah Tackett, 35
Breast cancer survivor, with her husband and children
Mesa, Arizona

“Shortly after my 50th birthday, I noticed some breast tenderness, but no lump. It had only been 9 months since my last mammogram, so it never occurred to me this could be a sign of cancer. A mammogram at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center showed stage 3 breast cancer. I went through chemotherapy, radiation therapy and a double mastectomy, plus the removal of 20 lymph nodes. I worked full-time throughout my treatment and today, I’m so happy to be cancer-free. As women, we need to make our health care a priority—if not for ourselves, for our loved ones and children. If I hadn’t been aware of my body or if I didn’t have easy access to a mammogram, my cancer would have easily been stage 4 if I had waited until my annual exam. The convenience of a mobile mammogram for busy working women and, women in outlying areas especially, is everything. We have the opportunity, and we need to make it happen.”

-Michelle Redding, 54
Breast cancer survivor
Mesa, Arizona

To increase access to high quality screening mammography services, can we count on you to make a charitable gift to The Big Pink Bus? Your donation is an investment that will make a life-saving difference in the battle against this disease that affects so many people, like Tracy, Sarah and Michelle.