BMW Drive for the Cure

I went to the one here in Utah last year.  My husband and I were told what route to drive.  It was fun, driving a grey BMW with the large pink ribbon logo on it....there were 3 or 4 matching cars on the road so it got the attention of people as we went down the street.

However, someone later posted on bc.org about the pollution this event causes.  I had never even thought about that.  It isn't just the emissions from the drive around town, but they also drive this fleet of cars around the country.  The person who posted suggested that BMW just donate the money and keep the cars off the road.  I think that was an eye-opener for me. 

Then I realized the only other people I saw at the event were all the ones I had met at the Komen events in town....it really was not ever advertised to the general public as far as I could tell.  In my opinion it's benefiting (advertising for) BMW as opposed to raising awareness.

We did the Komen walk last year but this year my hubby and I have so far got together approx 60 in a team from work for the next walk.  A lot of people had heard about the walk but never give it a second thought until it was suggested as a team building exercise in the office.

Oh, please don't misunderstand - I'm not saying that fundraisers are bad, I'm only talking about the one here that seemed to be unadvertised - only BC survivors were there, so it seemed the only ones getting awareness were already "in the know" about cancer!  Hopefully other BMW events are better planned.

In comparison, last year I spent the whole Race for the Cure at the education booth, giving out the keychains that said "I Am The Cure" on them.  The only way people could get one was to answer some questions for me.  There was a wheel they could spin and it landed on a question.  The answers were on the table so that they could see them.  This was amazing, and I LOVED doing it - I feel I helped educate HUNDREDS of people that day!  For example, the question, "what are the two biggest risk factors for cancer?" was answered wrong by about 99% of people - they all said "family history" and I got to say "I had an aggressive cancer and I have no family history" and you could tell it sunk in....no one is safe from this disease. (The correct answer is "being a woman" and "getting older")

And we always get great TV coverage at the race from our ABC station.  That's what I mean about raising awareness vs. not raising awareness when it comes to fundraisers.  Slapping a pink ribbon on a product is not always a guarantee that it's for the right reason...the company then needs to make sure the message is getting to those who need to hear it.  I'll stand in the hot sun for hours with my Taxol-neuropathy painful feet if I think I can educate someone before I'll take an air conditioned ride around the block in a luxury car if no one knows why I'm doing it.  Unless they let me drive with a bullhorn out the window!!  Actually, that would be wonderful!  GET A MAMMOGRAM!  ONE IN EIGHT WOMEN WILL GET BREAST CANCER! as I go down the road!

I'm interested to hear how other events are done across the country.  Do you all feel that the message is getting out to the general public?

We just had our BMW drive last Thursday and our event (Central Ga) was very well advertized.  Our drive this year was on a weekday and I didn't think we would have as many drivers to show up as we did last year.  Well I was wrong!  We had almost 200 drivers and they drove over 4,000 miles from 9-4.  BMW provided 24 cars and our course was 13.5 miles.  BMW has given $12 million to Komen over the last 12 years.  Thursday evening volunteers transported the cars to the next location (we got money for those miles too!).  The next town does not have a Komen Affiliate so the money they raise goes to National. 

The amazing thing about Komen (Race for the Cure) is that the committees are required to keep their expense budget under a certain percent (our 2007 was 13%).  75% of the money raised stays in our community to assist women that are either under insured or not insured.  We give grants for mammograms, travel assistance and education events.  We have also granted money to a medical college in our area for research.  The remaining 25% goes to National for research.  No other organization has spent the amount of money on breast cancer research than Komen ($10 billion).  There hasn't been a break through that wasn't touched by Komen in some way.