MTB Challenge: Put less distance between you and your donations

I challenge you to make the decision to donate locally, and with purpose.

There are few national charities that are able to bring in millions and millions of dollars. Most of them use it to help the people they serve. Case in point: St. Jude's Hospital for Children. According to Charity Navigator, they raise $829 million dollars a year, but their functional expenses are $787 million. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12847  Here's their 990. http://www.stjude.org/SJFile/fy09_form990_stjude.pdf. There's nothing wrong with raising loads of money... but St. Jude's tells me what they're doing. And they aren't rubbing it in anyone's face or filing lawsuits with people who use their "terminology". They're too busy showing us pictures of kids who are receiving free medical treatment.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is, in my opinion, on the opposite end of this spectrum. I want breast cancer to be cured,  but I have Pink Ribbon Fatigue. Check out this blog article from the New York Times in October. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/pink-ribbon-fatigue/ I want to know what this organization is doing to help breast cancer survivors. We see a lot of people running. We see "Pink Warriors" and women gathering to raise funds. Pink is fun, but pink isn't curing anything. According to this article, 40,000 women each year are still dying from breast cancer, and that number hasn't shown a decrease no matter how much "research" and "awareness" money SGK raises.* (For those who don't know why this irks me so much, 50,000 people die each year from Traumatic Brain Injury - TBI - and 130,000 people die from strokes. That adds up to 180,000 people dying from brain injury, which, in many cases, is preventable.)

*Revised 2023 - Susan G. Komen funds many grants that pay for free mammograms and breast ultrasounds for women from low income families. 

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the Susan G. Komen Foundation raised $129 million in 2007. http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content_Binaries/2007-2008_Form990GroupReturn.pdf. In 2009, they raised $172 million. http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content/AboutUs/Financial/Final%20Group%20990%20PDC.pdf. But the Susan G. Komen Foundation doesn't show a reinvestment back into my community. Have you ever heard of anyone being treated at the Susan B. Komen Free Women's Breast Cancer Clinic? I haven't either. Don't you think it's time we did?

My Challenge to Donors
Instead of donating to a gargantuan, faceless nonprofit organization, open your local newspaper. Chances are you'll see a women's auxiliary or a boy scout troop collecting cans of food for your neighbors who need them. You may see local breast cancer groups (yes, they do exist!) that provide direct programs and services to local breast cancer survivors. You'll see women teaching expectant teen moms how to diaper newborns. Pick a charity. Make an appointment to drop off a donation. You'll see the people that run the organization, and they will take your contributions with a smile and a hug, then reinvest it into programs that directly impact the overall value of your community. They may ask you to help them. You will be inspired by their energy and gratitude. And when you want to know what they did with your money, you just have to stop by, or take a look around you.

They're right under your nose. Go find them.