One spends Saturdays looking for women who need mammograms.

Another raises cash during time off from school, while another guides and comforts patients through a scary time.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 40,600 women and about 440 men will die from breast cancer this year.

These three determined Miami-Dade ladies have made it their mission to shrink those numbers by easing access to medical care, guiding patients through treatment and raising money to fight the disease.

ANDREA IVORY

To the women she's helped get potentially life-saving breast cancer screenings, Andrea Ivory is a hero.

And cyclist Lance Armstrong, famed symbol of the fight against cancer, agrees.

On an Oct. 4 ``tweet,'' Armstrong urged his Twitter followers to vote for Ivory, who is one of 10 finalists for CNN's Hero of the Year award, which recognizes folks who dedicate their lives to helping others.

``It's so exciting. We got the call in March,'' said Ivory, 50, who started the Florida Breast Health Initiative in late 2006. The group scours low-income areas, knocking on doors in search of uninsured women who can't afford mammograms. They point the women to mobile mammogram units and other free or low-cost services.

Since the group's founding, Ivory, her staff and volunteers have knocked on over 15,000 doors in Miami Gardens, Opa-locka, Hialeah and Northwest Miami-Dade. They've facilitated over 600 free or low-cost mammograms and found four cancer cases.

About five years ago, Ivory, who had been getting regular screenings, was diagnosed with the disease. Opting for an aggressive approach, she underwent a double mastectomy, followed by reconstructive surgery.

She said she's grateful that she had insurance, which paid for the mammogram that caught her cancer early enough to to boost her chances of survival, she said.

She knew, however, that there are thousands of women with low incomes and no insurance who are much less likely to catch breast cancer at an early stage. These women are also more likely to die from the disease.

That's when she and her husband, Willie, pooled $7,000 of their own cash and the initiative was born. ``No one should die from breast cancer,'' she said.

Ivory and her staff work out of a little office in Miami Lakes.

``I know so many women, in their 50s and 60s, who have never had a mammogram or a pap smear because they're poor, they don't have insurance,'' said Little Havana resident Elizabeth Aguayo, 52. ``What Andrea is doing is a huge thing.''

About three months ago, Aguayo's daughter Jessica Ortiz, 15, saw footage of Ivory at work on a CNN Heroes segment. Wanting to help her mom, who had found worrisome breast lumps through a self-exam, Jessica contacted Ivory's group to get information on mammograms. She also signed herself and her mother up to volunteer for Ivory in September.

Aguayo's subsequent tests showed she did not have cancer. Jessica said she will continue to volunteer.

``At first I did it to help my mom, but now I want to keep working with Andrea through high school and college,'' said Jessica, an aspiring doctor.

Ivory, in the meantime, is expanding her reach into Broward and South Miami-Dade. ``My dream is to take it national some day,'' she said. The winner of CNN's Hero of the Year will be announced on Thanksgiving Day.

LEXI LEHRMAN

A yummy pink-frosted doughnut set Alexis ``Lexi'' Lehrman, 11, on the path of community service.

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