I came across an article, The Truth About the Ice Bucket Challenge by VOX.com, that sparked a bit of anger. As someone in the non-profit world, charitable gifts are a HUGE component to the success of your organization or cause, and in my industry we have to be transparent as to what the donation will be used for (capital improvements, programming, general operation expenses, etc). The recent ALS challenge and the statistics from this article brought that gut wrenching question to the surface – where is this money going? Will it focus on finding a cure or just advancing methods/medications to treat the disease. Both are very important, but my blood begins to boil knowing that a few companies actually benefit from the focus being on medications instead of a cure. For example: People living with Type 1 diabetes can NOT live without insulin so why would anyone want to “fix” our bodies to be able to produce this insane $$$ maker that only a few pharmaceutical companies provide. This article brought to light that $4.2 million were raised on the diabetes front and yet 73,831 people still died from this very disease. I would be curious as to how much $$$ those pharmaceutical companies made to treat the 73,831 people who lost their life fighting.
As I step down from my soapbox, I want to be clear that the article focuses on much more than just the ALS challenge. It does a wonderful job of providing input on the most efficient ways to donate your hard earned cash. I hope this article provokes a few thoughts as to where your charitable dollars are going because we have the right to know and our opinion/$$$ make a difference.