Fighting breast cancer one mammogram at a time.
Cowgirls With A Cause is a 501c3 non-profit organization hosting an annual women’s only rodeo featuring a 4D barrel race, beginner/intermediate/open breakaway roping, and team roping and drawing competitors from eight states. Funds are also raised though sales of CWAC logo apparel & merchandise, vendor fees for our trade fair, concessions, and live & silent auctions. We also have fantastic sponsors who give generously to make this event an amazing production for our cowgirls and spectators. The cowgirls pay $50 per entry and there is no money pay-back – only great prizes made possible by our sponsors and a chance to compete and participate in fellowship with the other girls & ladies and give to a great cause.
Mission: to make funds available to provide mammograms and other cancer detection & treatment services to those who could not otherwise afford these life saving services.
Since 2004, CWAC has made donations to the Debby Burgess Memorial Fund at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Since then, our donations have paid for over 800 screening mammograms and over 80 follow-up diagnostic procedures for over 800 individual patients. In 2011, our donations will also support other breast centers to expand the geographic area we can impact.
Cowgirls With A Cause currently donates 82% of all monies taken in through our events and from sponsors! The remaining 18% pays for our awards, office & printing expenses, cattle fees, and other basic event production expenses. All board members and event staff/help are volunteers.
One in four women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
Forsyth Medical Center Cancer Foundation Records
| Year | Funds Raised | Procedures Provided | Patients Served |
| 2004 | $12,000 | ||
| 2005 | $14,000 | approx 90 screening mammograms and 10 follow-up diagnostic procedures | 90 |
| 2006 | $16,000 | approx. 98 screening mammograms and 10 follow-up diagnostic procedures | 98 |
| 2007 | $20,000 | approx. 82 screening mammograms and 7 follow-up diagnostic procedures | 82 |
| 2008 | No Event | ||
| 2009 | $25,000 | approx. 150 screening mammograms and 14 follow-up diagnositc procedures | 150 |
| 2010 | $35,000 | approx. 232 screening mammograms and 21 follow-up diagnostic procedures | 232 |
| 2011 | $32,000 | 169 screening mammograms and 19 follow-up diagnostic procedures | 169 |
| Total | $122,000 | approx. 821 screening mammograms and 81 follow-up diagnostic procedures | approx 821 |
***Please note that procedures provided and patients served are correlate to the previous year’s money. There are no stats for the funds raised in 2011.
Event Statistics
| 2004 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Individual Competitors | 80 | 213 | 300+ | |
| Barrel Racing Entries | 63 | 250 | 279 | 303 |
| Breakaway Roping Entries | 37 | 100 | 100 | 111 |
| Team Roping Entries | - | 88 | 105* | 76* |
| States Represented | 2 | 7 | 8 |
*For each $50 team roping entry in 2010, contestants also received a “draw” run, so effectively, each team represented a $50 donation. In 2011, there was no draw option, each team represents $100 donation. We actually had more team roping entries in 2011 (if we had a draw option, there would have been potential for 152 total entries).