Name the Best Organizations to Donate To

DivineMrsM

We're about to enter the pinkdom of October.  I'm contemplating writing a letter to the editor of our local newspaper urging people to investigate who they donate their money to when it comes to bc. I'm starting here.  Would those of you who know the best organizations which spend money on actual research and looking for a cure please post what they are.  Any additonal information about the organizations would be helpful.

I want to inform my community that we've moved past the awareness stage...we are all aware of bc.  Those of us dealing with bc want the emphasis to be on research and a cure. 

 *UPDATE~October 3, 2012*  I'm going to include in this initial post the organizations that have been mentioned in the thread below.  I am also going to add websites that discuss the pinkwashing of bc. Please feel free to dispute any that I mention if you feel it is not in the best interest in the war against bc.

Breastcancer.org - Diagnosis, Prevention and Awareness Information

www.metavivor.org

pinkribbonblues.org

Jcpenney Customers Invited To Join Company's Support Of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® - TheStreet

The Pink Daisy Project

Home Page: Breast Cancer Deadline 2020

 Mother's Grace - this is the link to their website

(1) Mothers Grace - this is their Facebook page

Tina2

Divine One,

Your letter is a great idea on Pinktober Eve! While I can't speak to the best and most appropriate research organizations, I agree that all of us should encourage donors/volunteers to investigate what organizations are actually doing with contributions. 

For instance, I just read a squib in the paper about an event sponsored by an organization that ostensibly raises funds to "support education, resources and outreach for people with breast cancer." When I visited its web site, I could find no concrete examples of what those efforts are, so I sent an email requesting details. While this particular organization may be legitimate, many that are flying the pink flag are not. Much or all of the monies they raise serve only to perpetuate their existence, with little or nothing going to help breast cancer research or people with the disease.

My mission for October is to question organizations of any kind that are using our disease to open the wallets of well-meaning donors.

Onward!

Tina

 

DivineMrsM

Good detective work, Tina.  

I have begun a web search on this subject.  For starters, I found this article:

 Jcpenney Customers Invited To Join Company's Support Of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® - TheStreet

JC Penney is donating money to the "Breast Cancer Research Foundation" this month.  Customers have the option to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar and Penneys will donate the difference to this foundation.  Now I'll search for info on this particular foundation.  Has anyone else heard of it?  Do you have any pros or cons to report? 

bourscheid

I plan on posting every day in Pinktober on my Facebook account about an organization that contritubes to breast cancer research or directly helps breast cancer patients and their families cope with a cancer diagnosis...with an emphasis on Stage IV and Triple Negative. I know of several but coming up with 31 will be challenging. Any suggestions?

mmm5

Dear Ladies-

 I wish to add our foundation "Mothers Grace", we support Moms and Children who are going through overwhelming life circumstance (coping with illness, grief and loss) financially with the day to day support of medical costs, meal support, groceries, houscleaning, etc etc.

We have supported many Moms on this board especially the Stage V Moms with financial support, grocerie cards, and vacation money for Stage V moms wanting to spend some important time with their children. You can visit our site at mothers-grace.org or FB @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mothers-Grace/196458780398320?fref=ts

 Please reach out to as well if there are any Moms that you know of that we may help! 

DivineMrsM

bourscheid, I plan to post something about the 'pinking of bc' during the month of October on my Facebook page.  It is a big step for me, because up till now, I have not mentioned bc at all.  During different phases of my life, I've been outspoken and taken up causes. But the bc one...I don't really want to be a local spokesperson about it.  But I'm being led to make some comments on FB to get people thinking about what they're doing.

I have visited the website "Think Before You Pink".  It explains some of the pinking of bc, and questions to ask before donating dollars to the cause.  It's been helpful to read.  My one concern is that it doesn't seem to have much current information.  There are links to articles from 2010 and earlier, but not much since that time.  However, I find the information that's posted is still relevant.

mmm5, thank you for your post.  I will mention your FB page on my own FB page this month.  God bless you in your efforts.

GatorGal

Metavivors run by all volunteers and all $ goes to research for metastatic cancer!


From their website:


METAvivor’s research grants are funded through donations and proceeds from fundraisers.



METAvivor is the only US non-profit awarding research grants solely for metastatic breast cancer. The organization is run entirely by volunteers, the majority of whom have the disease.



​MAILING ADDRESS:



METAvivor Research and Support, Inc.

1783 Forest Drive #184

Annapolis, MD 21401



http://www.metavivor.org

Moderators

bourscheid, when you're looking for an organization that ..."directly helps breast cancer patients and their families cope with a cancer diagnosis," we hope you'll think of Breastcancer.org as one of your 31 in October.

• The Mods

DivineMrsM

Breast Cancer Action

The above is a link to a a simple form to fill out letting your own elected state officials know we want action.  This is Breast Cancer Actions statement:   After three decades of “awareness” campaigns and billions of dollars raised, breast cancer remains a public health crisis of epidemic proportions. It is time to demand that our elected officials take bold, meaningful action for breast cancer prevention and better breast cancer treatments through independent research and strong regulation. Take action today and ask your elected officials to publicly endorse the 2012 Breast Cancer Action Mandate for Government Action. 

kathleen1966

I hope you come up with an official list to share with the community.

DivineMrsM

Facebook

If you click the above link, it will bring up a page for Breast Cancer Action that you can share on your Facebook page.

hope10

I like Gilda's  club of Delaware Valley. They have several programs that are free.

DivineMrsM

Please see the starting post for this thread, if you are interested.  I just added an update.  Please feel free to make more suggestions.

4myangels

I'd like to get information about the Breast Cancer Reasearch Foundation before I give to them or buy a product that supports them. Their website claims 91% of funds goes to "programs". WTF does that mean. I'd like to know how much actually goes to research.

twistedsteel

see my signature!

DivineMrsM

4myangels, those are the exact kinds of things we need to ask about organizations.  I will see if I can learn any more about the BCRF.  If it is not reputable, I will take them off the recommendation list.  Thank you for your insight.

DivineMrsM

Here is the website link for Mother's Grace

Mother's Grace

You can either click on the above link, or type mother-grace.org into a search engine.

I've added it to the list in the starter post of this thread. 

4myangels

OK, did some research on BCRF. The 91% directed to programs is divided into 88% research and 3% awareness. I couldn't get an exact breakdown on metastatic vs. early stage research, but they say they give a significant amount to metastatic research. They will be giving out $40 million to 197 investigators at the end of this month. Last year it was $36.5 million. They've been around since 1993. I feel better about them now.

DivineMrsM

4myangels, that is great investigative work.  I very much appreciate your posting your findings.  I'm glad to hear they have the standards we look for. If there are any organizations or websites that are not reputable, I will remove them, no problem.

itsjustme10

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Just put the name of the charity into the search engine, and you get some basic info on each charity.

sas-schatzi

Divine, well it didn't work out as I wanted. We both ended up in advocacy. If you're wondering why they moved you , I think it had to do with your statement that you were going to start listing the organizations that were bad. Which was the point of mine. In your kindness to make us aware of your site. It caused them to read yours. Otherwise I don't think they were aware of what was being said on your thread.

The storm on many threads in backlash to pink and money flow is causing them to get CEO phonecalls of dissent. They've told them that what we write on the boards is protected free speech and not against the rules. When I was negotiating mine they asked to keep it free of CEO names and employee names. I figuired it wouldn't hurt b/c mine was already defined as a list site not a discussion site ---and that all discussion be taken back to their home pages.

I linked your thread in the header on the list thread and and pinktober revolution.

What this tells me about the mods getting phone calls is the dissent through different threads is being heard in boardrooms and making them shook up. So, we are all making an impact. Yay for the Constitution!

I don't think there is anything here that can't be shared withall, so, I'm going to repost it on the threads. Pm with any questions. Yours and mine sheila