Before I write anything, I want it to make it clear that my opinion on this subject may be unjust and I fully admit I have abosuletly no right to critize the way society works. I know that there will be alot of disagreements with what I have to say. However, I have had personal experiences with each of these topics and feel that there needs to be change. Therefore I feel that I indeed, DO have the right to speak out to what I have to say. Agree? Agreed. There.
I'm just going to put it bluntly: Raising Awareness for something is like running on a treadmill during a marathon. You don't go any where. You can run as fast as you want, with how many people you want, spend as much money as you want but you are solving nothing unless reasonable action is being taken. There are some things I just don't exactly understand.
For instance, a few weeks ago it was "Wear purple on Thursday to speak out against bullying". What's that going to do? Stop the bully because you're wearing a purple tee? For people like me, that actually participated in this act, did it really stop people from bullying one another that day? No it did not. It did nothing. People acted how they always do. Laughed, giggled, joked about someone else. Pushed, shoved, tripped people. But it's all a game right? It was just a fun day that everyone got to wear 'all purple'. And I'm not going to pretend that I'm all innocent either.
Same idea goes for cancer awareness projects. This is the big one. You can't tell me that by year 2011, not one single person in this country (or even world!) hasn't been effected or doesn't know somebody who has been effected by cancer. Everyone is "aware" of it. Just off the top of my head, I have had six members of my family either killed or permemantly ill from cancer. I'm sure there's many more if I were to dig deeper. I've known what cancer was since I was five. Why are we just "raising awareness" of it? Why not more? We need solutions and research; not just t shirts.
We need more than "raising awareness". We need 100% of money raised going to legitimate research and not 60% of funds going to administration. No one gets paid when another is suffering.
I would also like to make it clear that there are other fantastic organizations and charities that are trying their best to find a solution to societies problems, and that I have absolutely no right to judge or have an misconception on what kind of an impact they have. Not every organization is in it for the money and I realize that. I hope I haven't offended anyone. To clear some more air, I want everyone to know that I personally still give/donate both time and money to these organizations and that I still believe that even though my $20 may only really be $2, that's still $2 closer to finding a cure. We all need to give if we want to make a difference.
Here's a list of organizations you should check out:
United Way of Canada - http://www2.unitedway.ca/uwcanada/default.aspx
Salvation Army - http://salvos.org.au/
Canadian Cancer Society - http://www.cancer.ca/Canada-wide/About%20cancer.aspx?sc_lang=en
Aid for Starving Children - http://www.aashf.org/
Make a Wish Foundation - http://www.thechildrensplace.ca/?redirect=usa
Kid's Help Phone - http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/teens/home/splash.aspx
Making a Difference Foundation - http://www.pdcrs.com/page.asp?PageID=58
Canadian Red Cross - http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003
and many, many more.
What difference are you going to make today? Leave a comment.
2 comments:
Raising awareness is where is starts and wearing a purple ribbon or piece of clothing is just a idea to make ppl "aware" or to honor victims, same as poppies. And in Saskatoon their is a Breast Cancer Marathon every yr and they make sure the money goes towards research right here in Saskatchewan. They have been very successful for raising awareness with the radio marathon and with money they have discovered drugs that have helped patients! I agree I wish more money would go towards the cause but you know sick people are a industry and many other things, peoples problems are what keeps other individuals employed. Good article and never be shy to share your opinions they are very thought provoking!
I'm a little late to the party responding to this post. Great writing Haley. You're right about admin costs. As a person who worked at non-profits for 8 years I know a bit about this. And proud to say United Way of Regina had one of the lowest admin costs around (around 11% when I worked there). If only more non-profits would work together rather than creating new organizations!
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