COMMENTARY | Several of my friends have told me that they are upset by the scandal involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure. They don’t want to give Komen money anymore, and I haven’t for a long time. The question now is, who to give money to?
Even if the scandal with Planned Parenthood had never happened, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is not the most effective charity to give your money to. Komen is in the business of fundraising to do more fundraising, not to race toward the cure. The cure will be found through research, which is not where most of Komen’s money goes. Here’s the breakdown, which can be found by examining their most recent financial statements.
Research $75.30M
Education $181.09M
Screening $54.09M
Treatment $23.25M
Admin. $27.25M
Fundraising $47.99M
I think we are past the point where we need to spend $181 million on education. If anything, the public mistakenly believes that if you catch breast cancer early, you win. Not always, not by a long shot. Some cancers, like mine, aren’t caught on mammograms, and some are caught early and still march right on.
Research is where money is needed, not for more fundraising and administrative costs.
Who gets your money then? I donate to The National Breast Cancer Coalition. They spend money on research, training advocates, and lobbying to make the cure a priority in Washington D.C. They partner with Dr. Susan Love and the Army of Women to do all that can be done to end breast cancer. The facts about breast cancer are not what many of us have come to believe. You can read the real facts, and do something about them, on the NBCC website.
Research will get us to the cure, and research requires participants. One of the hurdles that we face to find the cure is a lack of study subjects, both for control populations as well as trials. This is where the Army of Women comes in. Anyone can join the Army of Women, and with enough people willing to be a part of the solution we can find the answers.
You may also want to know about all those pink labels. What portion of the proceeds from your purchases will help anyone? If you want to use your shopping dollar to make a difference, consult Think Before You Pink. You’ll get the real story and learn if your shopping dollar is helping people face and beat breast cancer or if it’s just making someone richer.
All it takes to make a real difference in the battle against breast cancer is the right information. If you have lost a sister, mother, friend, brother (yes, men die of breast cancer too) or anyone else to breast cancer, honor the memory of your loved one by making your contribution count.
Elizabeth Danu is a five-year survivor of inflammatory breast cancer, Project LEAD graduate and blogger at the Liberation of Persephone.