Wear it pink

[riaz]

Get a vomit coloured carpet pro tem, then chuck it out after a year

(From memory, it is usually white - or is this a tasteless hijack?)

 

[cornflakegirl]

He didn't throw up on the carpet when he was a baby. Baby vomit is fine though - there doesn't seem to be the sour smell when they're little. Not sure why...

 

[wobble12]

No-one here has suggested that we should exclusively focus our efforts on raising funds to combat breast cancer. I happen to enjoy getting involved in fund raising events for a whole heap of charities (when the opportunity presents itself). Wear It Pink is but only one or my favoured events - and regardless of what has been said in an particular earlier post BREAST CANCER AWARENESS IS STILL A DESERVING CHARITY!!!

If you or anyone wish to participate in a charity event, i'm not suggesting you should be criticised, but I feel we shouldn't blindly follow events. I think that looking into what happens to our money, and how a charity behaves is very important. No organisation should hide behind a moral facade.

Don't get me wrong, I've given to Race for Life before, and I've had a relative suffer from BC, but I look at how much they get, how much influence they have over a variety of stakeholders (health authorities, politicians etc), how much they're involved with drug companies, and it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

When you look at the money raised and compare it to the number of (mostly) women diagnosed, BC get far more money than other diseases. When we have men dieing in greater numbers in just about every age range, and women's health gets much more spent on it, I think its time to re-assess where society's priorities should lie in terms of spending.

Its been claimed that BC charities have that "sexyness" that say, heart disease struggles to acheive.

The victims of breast cancer are not only women - considering those they leave behind are often husbands, children etc...

Its refreshing you say that, as I read an article once about prostate cancer, and most of the concern was about the wives left behind.

Also, some more info regarding health disparity:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/health/14men.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3


Also, a quick story:
Here in the UK we have Red Nose Day every few years. A TV event that raises millions for a variety of charities both in the UK and in Africa. Myself and some friends used to get involved in that in the first few years, but when we heard about some of the attitudes of some money raisers (almost bullying people into digging into their pockets), we stopped (there were other reasons, but that stuck in my mind).

This attitude is something you get when an event gets really big, with a number participants getting overly enthuseastic (sp?!). Infact I just received such an attitude, being accused of being uneducated etc. wrt the pink day. I find it rather ironic.

Of course I'm not accusing anyone here of that, but its another issue that I've come across both for this and past charities.

 

[cornflakegirl]

To misquote DL Moody, I prefer the way that Jon does it to the way that you don't do it. Obviously, not aimed at anyone in particular, because I have no idea about individual's charitable efforts. But to slate people for being over-enthusiastic about raising money for charity just seems wrong.

In my ideal world, everyone would just decide rationally how much money to give, and to which charities, and set up regular DDs. But the world isn't like that. So good on Jon, Rob and anyone else who makes a fool of themselves to redirect some cash to a good cause!

 

[riaz]

In my ideal world, everyone would just decide rationally how much money to give, and to which charities, and set up regular DDs. But the world isn't like that. So good on Jon, Rob and anyone else who makes a fool of themselves to redirect some cash to a good cause!

I agree with Emma. Even if the charity spends say 30% on admin, at least 70% of your donation gets to where it is supposed to go, which is 70p in the £ more than they had before.

And I do not see the point in the debate about sexy and non sexy charities? There is nothing sexy about illness. Give where your heart dictates.

 

[wobble12]

To misquote DL Moody, I prefer the way that Jon does it to the way that you don't do it. Obviously, not aimed at anyone in particular, because I have no idea about individual's charitable efforts. But to slate people for being over-enthusiastic about raising money for charity just seems wrong.

Perhaps I worded it poorly, but what I was trying to say was that such over enthusiasm can result in bullying behaviour. That cannot be condoned. It leads to a great deal of unsavoury behaviour.

In my ideal world, everyone would just decide rationally how much money to give, and to which charities, and set up regular DDs. But the world isn't like that. So good on Jon, Rob and anyone else who makes a fool of themselves to redirect some cash to a good cause!

Beyond there being no need for such fund raising, my ideal world would be one where charities would be less political. One where funds for different cancers were not competed against each other for resources. I'd rather see the amount of resources a disease receives is in proportion with how much is actually needed, compared with other diseases. Basically, more fairly distributed.

Idealistic, but we can all dream

 

[Greg Truby]

As with almost anything, charitable giving comes with a dose of caveat emptor. The auditing of a charity's worthiness should be proportional to the size of one's donation. And in both cases "worthiness" and "size" are completely defined by the donor. For me, a $100 is a "sizable" donation. But it wouldn't show up on Warren Buffet's radar.

I applaud Jon for doing something. Don't want to "go pink"? OK - you could donate a weekend of your time to Habitat for Humanity if that's your gig (I've done that). You could participate in "Adopt-a-Highway" roadside cleanups (I've done almost a dozen of those). You can participate in a food drive for homeless shelters (done that too). You can go Christmas caroling and decorate sugar cookies with the old timers at a retirement home (I really enjoyed that one). Donate blood (which I hate doing, but I grit my teeth and do it anyway.) I think you're getting my point... There are more than enough ways to donate time or money that you should be able to find at least one charity worthy of your time if you take five minutes to look for one. So what if one of the causes on the long menu of causes has attracted what you consider to be zealots? They are not the only charity in town, pick another!

Basically, more fairly distributed.

Your most dangerous phrase. Donations freely given *are* fairly distributed. People all donate based on their perception of where the money should go. Who would be this all-knowing arbiter of fair distribution? If you have a cause that you believe deserves more resources, then become an advocate for it and get out there beat your tamborine, baby! (Or - in Jon's case - dye your hair and wear a pink brassiere)

 

[Richard Schollar]

...and decorate sugar cookies with the old timers at a retirement home (I really enjoyed that one).

Greg - I hadn't realised your family had packed you off to a care home already. I guess you are getting a mite long in the tooth...

 

[Greg Truby]

I met the most interesting little old lady that night. It was two Christmases ago and my son was still in Cub Scouts. Each Scout and parent paired up with one or two of the residents. We sat down with this little grandmotherly type. Oesteoporosis and arthritis had bent her back and given her a cane. But her eyes were still bright and her smile warm. She had no children of her own, having never married. Her sister, nieces and nephew were far away. As we got to talking she told us that she been one of the few women pilots in her day. Eventually saving enough money to buy her own plane and start a charter service. Over the years she built it up to where she had other pilots working for her and owned seven planes. She had flown customers to Japan and even to Moscow back in the days of the iron curtain.

Somewhere along the line a health issue arose. She didn't offer details and I didn't press. But being a small business owner and essentially self-insured meant that she had to cover most of her own expenses. Eventually due to her health she could not run the business and sold it. Health expenses eventually consumed that money and she had to sell her home too and thus was there, with us, that December evening.

I never would have guessed any of this just looking at her. Goes to show, you never can tell.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

Oesteoporosis is especially nasty - my mum suffered much pain from it! A mere slip ended in a crushed hip and a complete replacement! Another illness alot more common in women, and another condition that I would very willingly raise funds to help combat!

Greg - I hadn't realised your family had packed you off to a care home already. I guess you are getting a mite long in the tooth...

Hehehe!!!