Under Armour makes $10M contribution to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

Under Armour Inc. has made a $10 million contribution to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center to fund breast cancer and breast health support programs and a women's wellness center. The gift was announced last week.

The gift, the largest ever made by the Baltimore-based performance footwear and apparel company to any organization, will be used to construct and outfit the Under Armour LiveWell Center, a space that will include exercise equipment, a nutrition and learning center, breast cancer navigation, and survivorship services that will help women during and after treatment. The center's programs—which will include up-to-date information about breast cancer research, treatment, and prevention—will be made available worldwide through distance learning and social media.

The center will be housed in the Skip Viragh Building, which is slated to open in 2017 and will serve as the primary entry point for cancer care at Johns Hopkins.

"Under Armour is deeply honored to partner with Johns Hopkins, a pioneering organization in the advancement of health and innovation," said Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank. "It is our mission with the Under Armour LiveWell Center to bring the best minds, technologies, and resources in the world together for breast cancer awareness and prevention."

The gift is part of Rising to the Challenge: The Campaign for Johns Hopkins, an effort to raise $4.5 billion, primarily to support students, research and discovery, and interdisciplinary solutions to some of humanity's most important problems. The campaign, supporting both the university and Johns Hopkins Medicine, began its quiet phase in January 2010, was publicly launched in May 2013 and is targeted for completion in 2017. More than $2.44 billion has been committed so far.