When I decided to raise money as part of my Ironman Arizona journey I discovered the Breast Cancer research Foundation. I selected them for several reasons. First, their focus is on research to find a cure and prevention, rather than just awareness and pink ribbons, and second, 91% of their revenue goes to their mission. Why breast cancer?. Did you know that 1 in every 8 women in the US will be diagnosed with breast cancer? I didn't, and was shocked by the grim statistics associated with this largely female disease. My wife and I have 2 daughters, 3 sisters, and 5 nieces. Statistically at least one of them will deal with this disease. You too know and care about more than 8 women in your life. Which one is designated for this diagnoses? Which one passes this disease on to her daughters? Having to answer those question is unacceptable to us. In the time it was going to take me to complete my Ironman, 460 women would be newly diagnosed and 17 would die from breast cancer. The numbers are staggering and heartbreaking. What other disease targets a particular segment of our population with such efficiency? How do we live with ourselves if our wives, daughters, or sisters die from breast cancer and we have not done everything possible to find a cure, or better, a prevention protocol. My wife and I decided we could not. While breast cancer has not yet touched our family, it has affected many of our friends, including two of the women in the picture I have attached. The one in the lower middle, rennie, passed away after 10 years of fighting the disease, leaving two lovely daughters who may now also be at risk. So for all those who have fought in the past, and for those we hope will never have to fight in the future, we selected breast cancer research as our cause. We raised over $10000 which we are matching for a total of almost $21000. And in the process we heard from many people who have dealt with this disease personally or through close friends and family. We were stunned by how many people this has touched, and how grateful they were that we were raising money for their disease. So we have also committed to donate $10000/yr to BCRF for 5 years. In total, this will fund 1400 hours of leading edge research by world class scientists around the globe. In all, a small contribution to the millions being spent already, but it just may be what puts a researcher over the edge to finding that breakthrough so our daughters never have to be told they have breast cancer. We want this to #BeTheEnd. We hope you will join us.
Review from #MyGivingStory
The Breast Cancer Research Fund's purpose is just that - Research and Awareness. It does not purport to help individual cancer patients but rather, sponsors a great deal of research so that cancer can be prevented and ultimately eradicated, and also aims to raise awareness.
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When deciding on a cancer non-profit to donate to, our group chose BCRF since 91% of the money they take in supports research and awareness. After contacting them, we received pink ribbon pins and pink silicone bracelets free-of-charge in order to raise awareness and help raise more money for the fundraiser.
We have not been hounded by any of their representatives subsequently to donate.
Another consideration - we are a Catholic group and did not want to donate to a cancer non-profit that supports abortion as does Susan B. Komen. While SBK does provide patient support and is very well known for their work and their fundraisers, we searched for a cancer non-profit that did not support abortion and that would not spend a great deal of their donations on advertising and other non-cancer support aspects of their organization.