Ask Questions Before You Donate

This blog post is going to be a little different from what I usually post.  As most of you know, I had cancer.  Because of this, I am happy to donate to events that help medical research and treatments as well as helping people who don't have insurance or transportation to treatment.   I probably would have died if my type of cancer would have happened to me thirty years ago.

I have donated to relay for life.  Relay for life is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, but I recently found out that forty cents of every dollar goes for administration costs.  They also say you can donate to a particular cancer but in reality it goes into a general fund.  They determine which cancer will get the most funding.  Many people don't know this and donate thinking all or most of the money will go to the cause.  I do think Relay for Life raises awareness and unites people to a cause.  I also believe that some of the other cancer organizations have even bigger administrative costs, but do the research before donating to find the percentage.  If you are comfortable with it, that's great, but when I donate $25 I want more than $15 of that to go for the cause or cure.

Try to find events and organizations that are non profit and use all the donations or at least most.  The local hospital in Berlin Wisconsin is having a 5K walk called Helping Hands for Cancer.  All the money raised through this event helps people.  That is where I want my donation dollars to go.  Please ask questions before you donate your hard earned money.

Tomorrow I will be back to my usual posting, but I needed to get this off my chest.