Recently, a friend asked me to support her charity walk/run for Pediatric Cancer Research, in remembrance of her son who was taken a few years ago. If I didn’t know her, this cause would have been completely off my radar. But I remember the hard times experienced by her family, so I gladly donated to the cause. All over the world there are plenty of saddened family members and friends ready to take up the cause for many, many diseases. I remain encouraged by people’s capacity for goodness, even during sad times.
In the past few days, I’ve been thinking about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a little hard to ignore as pink is everywhere. I’m trying to understand why this particular type of cancer gets so much attention versus others. For that matter, why just cancer? Equal allocation of time and resources could be argued on behalf of Stroke Prevention, or AIDS, or my personal cause – Diabetes research. These concerns are just as important, but lack the commercial marketing machine to merit an entire month of focus.
I read an interesting blog post recently, written by a woman who is bothered by the revelry surrounding this month – pink trashcans, National No Bra Day, etc. One of her points is that as a victim of the disease she is allowed to poke fun, but others making it cute is disrespectful. It will be argued that this fun stuff raises money, and I get that. But the effort and monies spent increasing awareness could be pipelined directly to research… a no frills approach if you will. And there are accusations that companies use their connection to the charity to boost sales. In some ways, that might be more tragic than the disease itself.
She also says, “… seeing October 13th advertised as “National No Bra Day” and as a “fun” way to support people with breast cancer has pushed me over the edge.” Maybe she sounds a little bitter, but who wants to call her on it? I certainly do not.
Please read her fantastic blog post here, and think about some of the tremendous work that other charities do without so much attention. Also, please support my friend’s charity, Joseph’s Angels.
I’ve written this post over several days, being cautious not to offend too many people. I offer no answers, just questions. As usual, I welcome your comments. JL