Be Bold, Be Bald Day

October 17th is national be bold, be bald day (www.beboldbebald.org). I had never heard of it before this morning but its the 6th annual. I am not so sure how I feel about this.

If you are a supporter, you get to wear a lovely bald cap (which looks nothing like a bald head) to show your support of people who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatment. Once you sign up you can order your kit of a bald cap and sign up sheets or you can order bulk quantities of bald caps for your team.

You can sign up your organization to be a beneficiary of the BBBB effort. Then you will receive about 75% of what was raised by your supporters.

I have decided I have two problems with this effort:

1. All the smiling people wearing ugly bald caps over long hair do not make me think of cancer patients. 
2. 25% of the amounts raised don't make it to you.

I have a friend of mine who shaved his head to show support for someone with cancer. That is what I call bald. But it still doesn't have that chemo pallor we all know and love. And its not worth 25% of your money to wear an ugly bald cap.

How ugly are these bald caps? this is a picture of actress Kathy Bates wearing one of these.


Now that I have written all this I guess I have decided I don't really like this much at all. I like the solidarity but that's about it.

Helping your cause or not

Yesterday at work a co-worker said she was trying to find a pink tool set for her home repair inept daughter who was moving into her own place. She said that Komen (for the Cure) had them. I said to her that she should not buy from Komen as their money does not go to cancer research but to pinkification and events. She hadn't realized this and was glad I told her.

She is someone who has never had breast cancer (yes I really do know people who have never had cancer) and was really out of the whole cancer conversation. Her husband had prostate cancer but that doesn't have a pinkified bandwagon to hop on. But I digress. She will find the pink tool set from another source and not give money to Komen.

[And why does Komen sell pink tool kits any way? I mean how is that helping breast cancer awareness and research? Really?]

You may not know this about me but I have become addicted to knitting and crocheting. I am a member of SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy). I have realized the depths of my addiction and have started selling my wares at local craft shows. I try to sell at craft shows that are fundraisers for local schools or other organizations. I have done three shows this year - two benefiting schools and one a temple.

I am now signed up for three more shows - two to benefit schools and one which is a fundraiser for a team in the Relay for Life in Smithfield, RI. I had two shows to pick from that day - one for a school and one for the ACS. It was a no brainer for me. I went with the one for the ACS. I can't always afford to donate to as many causes as I have in the past these days but this way I am donating to a cause that really means a lot to me.

I find this to be a really creative way to raise funds for a worthy cause.

When do events take over their causes?

Here's a poser for early in the day: when do events take over their causes/ailments? Allow me to clarify a few things:

I think there are two kinds of events:

• The local event - a fundraiser for the family of someone with cancer or another ailment for example or for a local charity. The events are run by the people who know the family/organization and are close to them. The participants are mostly their friends with a few others thrown in. The amounts given are dug from deep down in their pockets with the concern for the monthly budget and mortgage payment. Every cent raised is handed over to a happy individual or family who may or may not even have known it was happening. Afterwards the recipient is amazed at the generosity of others and so grateful or the organization is able to continue to help others in the community.
• The other kinds of events come with media and hype - big fancy commercials and slick ads - to show up many  millions are touched by the disease/ailment/whatever each year and how everything you can do to help this wonderful worthy cause is so important, blah, blah, blah. Your donation/support/participation will help so many other people. The recipients don't really know who raised the money and the participants don't know the recipients. They are just running/riding/'sport'-ing their way to help a worthy cause because they may know someone who might have had the ailment. And they are required to raise a substantial amount of money and provide a credit card number to bill the amounts not raised. They ask their friends and families donations as they feel the pressure to do so.

There is a huge difference between the two kinds of events. While the donors and participants both might feel they are helping a worthy cause, there is a huge disconnect between the two types.

In my mind I am thinking of events like the Pan Mass Challenge which is run by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and all funds raised are used to fund cancer research and the organized Komen Three Day, Avon Two Day, American Diabetes Association's Rides and all those other big events where no one knows each other and the recipients are far away and unknown. Does the hype and media pressure and obligations of the participants outweigh the cause itself?

I often donate to participants in these events because I know the pressure they are under to raise funds. But I also give to the local events because I care.  Does the event take over the cause because of the disconnect between the participant and the recipient when the media and hype set in? When does money and pressure supersede the cause?

Finally, am I making sense?

Be Bold, Be Bald Day

October 17th is national be bold, be bald day (www.beboldbebald.org). I had never heard of it before this morning but its the 6th annual. I am not so sure how I feel about this.

If you are a supporter, you get to wear a lovely bald cap (which looks nothing like a bald head) to show your support of people who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatment. Once you sign up you can order your kit of a bald cap and sign up sheets or you can order bulk quantities of bald caps for your team.

You can sign up your organization to be a beneficiary of the BBBB effort. Then you will receive about 75% of what was raised by your supporters.

I have decided I have two problems with this effort:

1. All the smiling people wearing ugly bald caps over long hair do not make me think of cancer patients. 
2. 25% of the amounts raised don't make it to you.

I have a friend of mine who shaved his head to show support for someone with cancer. That is what I call bald. But it still doesn't have that chemo pallor we all know and love. And its not worth 25% of your money to wear an ugly bald cap.

How ugly are these bald caps? this is a picture of actress Kathy Bates wearing one of these.


Now that I have written all this I guess I have decided I don't really like this much at all. I like the solidarity but that's about it.