Everyone is probably familiar with the Relay For Life. It's the main annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. In past years the Relay has been an anticipated community gathering in Tattnall County and has become a year-long campaign for businesses raising the money. The last two years the main event has been cancelled due to the weather. Although we (at The Tattnall Journal) do support the American Cancer Society in their fight to find a cure for cancer, we wonder if those who are diagnosed with cancer in Tattnall County are getting all the help they could be. Although Tattnall County raises thousands of dollars each year during the Relay For Life, that money goes out of the county and is used by the Cancer Society for research, programs and other expenses. To apply for any real financial assistance if you are diagnosed with cancer, we understand there is a lengthy application process and then if you get anything at all it is just minimal. Our neighbors in Evans County feel their donations should be used more directly to help their own people who are battling the disease. They have formed an organization called CARES. Last week we wrote a story on CARES and also included our own thoughts in the Editorial. Here is the link to those stories. What are your thoughts on the Relay For Life and do you think Tattnall County should support a more localized effort to help cancer victims?
http://www.tattnalljournal.com/cares.html
Monday, January 29, 2007
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5 comments:
I think Evans County has the right idea. Too many
of our dollars are going to pay for overhead and it does not come back into our county. The $80,000 plus raised by Relay for Life could have been used by many working people who find themselves in the position of not being able to get help when they are first diagnosed with cancer.Just the help of gas and the moral local support to go to the treatments would be greatly appreciated.We should designate our dollars. 80% ($64,000) county only for the cancer program, 20%($16,000) directly to the cancer society not to overhead....
I am Rachael Harrelson, the 2007 RFL Chairperson for Tattnall County. This blog post is not the first time this concern has been brought up. I, at first, thought the same about CARES. I thought "hey maybe this is a good idea". But then I looked into it more. I understand the major concern of "where does the money go". I am a question asker too. So I did some research.
I continue to support the American Cancer Society because of many reasons. For starters, I am first thankful to God, but also to the A.C.S. for funding research programs that have now found a vaccination for the cancer I almost had. I had precancerous cells on my cervix when I was 16 and had surgery to remove them. Without research we would not even have the test to find "pre"cancerous cells, let alone now provide a vaccination (Gardesil) for a once deadly cancer. For some of you men this may not be enough, so how about the new vaccination that is going into the 3rd stage of trial for prostate cancer. As if that wasn't enough, there has been many drugs discovered by ACS researchers that have extended the lives and increased the quality of lives for so many cancer patients. This is why I support the A.C.S. We as intelligent citizens of Tattnall county know that this such research could not be done on a local level. I also feel that all the cancer screenings from the regular dental cancer test to pap smears to colon cancer screenings go overlooked. We are such a priveledged society that we overlook many of our "blessings". Years ago most people just died from cancer, there were no tests to tell you what you had or atleast not until it was too late. Now we have tests for newborns to geriatrics. We have precise tests that pinpoint it down to exactly what type of cancer a patient may have and if it will be receptive to what treatments. Most everyone in Tattnall is aware of the recent case of Baby Chloe Defore. She is a great example to me of how the A.C.S.'s research impacts us on so many levels. Chemotherapy used to be a treatment that was more violent on a person's body than it is today. I have a video on my phone of a smiling, happy baby in a walker receiving her chemo treatments. All I could do is cry. WOW! Look how far we have come! Her life may have been cut short but her time here was not one of pain and discomfort. This is why I Relay!
I also support them because of the personal programs and services that they provide for survivors and patients. This is where the subject gets sticky. We, unfortunately, have had many cancer cases in Tattnall county and not many have seen the benefits of these programs. Let me explain why. Most programs, Road to Recovery, Look Good Feel Better, Man to Man, just to name a few, are not in Tattnall County right now because of the lack of volunteers. The local A.C.S. office has brought people to Tattnall to try and find volunteers for the Road To Recovery Program and we daily look for volunteers for any of the others. We hope in the future to have such programs up and running.
Most people also believe that the A.C.S. should give money out to each individual cancer patient as they once did for gas exspenses. This is no longer practical. Due to the increasing number of patients in need there is a process that has to be completed. I advise anyone in need of assistance or has any questions about the A.C.S. to please call 1-800-ACS-2345 or go online to www.cancer.org.
Also if you still have any questions, concerns, or interests in volunteering please do not hesitate to call 912-293-1519 or email me at ilove2relay@yahoo.com.
I would also like to take this time to say thank you to all of you that have and continue to show your support for the Relay For Life and American Cancer Society. It is because of supporters like you that the A.C.S. has been so successful in bettering the lives of cancer patients and getting closer to finding a cure for this horrific disease.
I agree with Rachael's comments but it still does not change the fact of how much money is being spent on salaries and overhead...and how much goes to the research portion...is there a website or something where we can look at this...the figures of how our money is spent speaks louder in support of which cause is the best for our county and overall in cancer research....
According to CharityNavigator.com, The American Cancer Society gives about 69 percent of its $943 million annual budget to program expenses, which includes research and aid for cancer victims.
Twenty three percent goes to raising money and 8 percent goes to administrative costs. That's not too bad if you ask me.
We talk about C.A.R.E.S. maybe being a good alternative, but how sure are we that local folks can do it any better?
If the C.A.R.E.S. walk raised $80,000, deciding who gets that money is going to take an incredible amount of time. We might be talking monthly meetings and maybe a part-time administrator.
I guess they'd need a board to decide who gets the money and who's to say that will be fair? What if someone decides that their cousin needs a little extra while my relative doesn't deserve anything?
I think letting local people control that money is a recipe for infighting, nepotism and even some abuse. I read the other day that the Stilson PTO president stole $5,000. No telling how often that happens and we never know.
ACS might seem like this huge organization that swoops in and takes out buckets of money. Even if that money never comes back to Tattnall, at least we're giving to an overall worthy cause.
Why limit ourselves? Why not do both?
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