BENNINGTON — The Vermont-New Hampshire affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced three grants to two Bennington organizations for a total of $78,000 dedicated to the health of local women.

The organization awarded two grants, totaling $30,000, to Southwest Vermont Medical Center for its breast health outreach program and its “Camisole and Cancer Treatment and Support Handbooks” program.

In a statement, Eileen Druckenmiller, a communications specialist for the hospital in Bennington, said the grants would allow the health system to reach out to women in several ways, by encouraging women to take care of themselves by getting regular mammograms and by supporting and offering education to women and their families, including those who have had breast surgery.

Komen awarded $48,000 to the Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services Free Clinic for an innovative women’s health breast screening project.

“Calling All Women” will train volunteers to connect with and identify low- and moderate-income women in need of mammograms. Those women will be scheduled for a no-cost exam at the clinic with follow-up mammogram at Southwest Vermont Medical Center. Follow-up care and referral will be coordinated by the clinic.

“We are thrilled to be able to make mammograms available to more women. We hope to be able to speak to every woman in Bennington County by the end of the grant year,” said Sue Andrews, executive director of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services in a statement.

Terri Hathaway, chairwoman of the Komen’s grant committee, said in a statement that the local affiliate had conducted a needs assessment of Vermont and New Hampshire and discovered several concentrated areas with a higher than normal level of uninsured and underinsured individuals.

“Bennington County is one of those areas. We are confident that the ‘Calling All Women’ program will find women who might not have the means to access adequate preventative care, support or treatment for a cancer diagnosis (and they) will receive the care they need,” she said.

The 20th Vermont Race for the Cure, the affiliate’s signature fundraising event, will take place this year July 28 at Hildene in Manchester. The event hosts nearly 2,000 runners and walkers with their families and supporters from around the region.

Since 1993, the Vermont-New Hampshire affiliate has raised more than $8.1 million. Of that, more than $6.7 million — 75 percent of the money raised — underwrote breast cancer education, screening and treatment in Vermont and New Hampshire while the remaining 25 percent was dedicated to breast cancer research.

For more information on the Vermont-New Hampshire Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, visit the website at www.komenvtnh.org or call 362-2733.