This one might burn me – 3-Day Breast cancer walk

This weekend they had the 3-day breast cancer walk in San Diego. This event seems to grow more and more every year and yesterday on my regular Sunday bike ride I was able to observe a couple of interesting things about it.

First and foremost I would like to clarify that I acknowledge how important it is to raise breast cancer awareness and how important it is for people to mobilize for a good cause, BUT my take on the walk is purely commercial.

Riding down the coast I was amazed by the huge number of people that participated in the walk. Every person had their gear (t-shirts, hats, armbands, flags, bracelets, balloons, confetti, cards, photos, pens, signs, etc, etc, etc) and that got me thinking of how much money these “walks” are raising versus how much money it is costing.

I know that some of the materials might be donated, discounted in price and that a lot of volunteer work is put into making these materials. What I don’t understand is why it has to be so commercialized. Better yet, I would love to know how much organizers of these events (not the breast cancer one in particular) actually take home.

Unfortunately we live in a society that does not hand out favors and lets not be hypocritical here, THIS IS THE TRUTH. I admit that I only work for money. I do some free work and I would probably work for free all the time if nobody else asked me for money (banks, utilities companies, landlords, etc, etc).

We also know that these events would probably not exist if they were not generating any revenue. No matter how many people are getting cancer or AIDS or MS or anything else. You will never see a Breast Cancer Walk in Vanuatu, it would NEVER generate ANY money.

That does not mean that they are making money, but they are making enough money to support staff and all other expenses (which might end up being trips, fancy dinners, etc, etc). Now that could be enough of a reason to keep these events coming and going. If an organizer raises $1,000,000 it pays for all its costs, donates the promised amount to the cause and at the end of the day that person makes a good living there is no reason to stop putting up these events.

Lets take registration for example. Everyone NEEDS to register for the event. That right there is a source of income for someone in the chain. You pay your registration fees and a percent of that goes to the registrar. If this is such a noble cause, do they need to keep all the money, can they donate some of it (I think they might, at least I would hope). Same goes to the t-shirt guy, the hat guy and all the other pieces that go into making the perfect outfit for the 3-day breast cancer walk.

You can argue that this is great because it is generating all sorts of jobs, yada, yada, yada, but the bottom line is that NO CANCER is being treated faster because of it. No matter how many shirts you sell, how many people sign up to walk, NO CANCER is being cured.

My point is that shouldn’t “they” shift their focus a little bit. Make it less commercial and maybe work on it at a different angle? I am no doctor, but cancer seems to be mostly a side effect of the lifestyle you live. Of course there are genetics and outside factors (exposing to radiation, etc, etc), but a huge factor would be lifestyle.

Should they focus their efforts on battling the disease from the ground up? Make sure generations to come will not have to deal with it. How come there is no breast cancer where there are are McDonalds? It is a general assumption, but a pretty good one, just something to think about.

In any case, it baffled me to see how much money an event like this can generate (other than the actual fundraising part). To be honest I have thought of an event myself because I know that if you find the right niche you can be profitable. I am not sure why I haven’t set that up yet.

On a last note, I know how important this is to some people. It might be the only thing that makes them happy and helps them cope with the horrible feelings that the disease brings, but there has to be a better way to do this, a less commercial way. Now to figure out how I am not sure, but that person is guaranteed to make money…..of course.

JH