Ever run a marathon for charity?

[Sonrisa]

for people like Fras who don't read links:

EIF'S IMPACT

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS: Research efforts over the years for less toxic cancer treatments include the revolutionary therapy Herceptin® that originated from pioneering research within the Revlon/ UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program and is now available to women with metastatic breast cancer worldwide. Herceptin has proved for the first time that targeted therapy is not only possible but also highly effective. Herceptin has significantly increased the survival rate in over 1/3 of women diagnosed with the most aggressive forms of cancer whose tumors contain the HER-2 alteration and prolong their quality of life. The translation of this groundbreaking research to the bedside is, in large part, due to the efforts of EIF's Revlon Run/Walk participants and their tremendous fundraising efforts. Many women with otherwise inoperable cancers attribute their survival to this groundbreaking therapy.

CUTTING-EDGE SCIENCE: Promising research being conducted today has been funded by EIF's Revlon Run/Walk to bring us closer to finding a cure to cancer. Through beneficiaries such as UCLA Women's Cancer Research Center, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York University School of Medicine. These leading research hospitals are developing more affective approaches to early diagnosis and prevention strategies.

EARLY SCREENING: Detecting cancer early saves lives! Since 1994, over 82,000 women have been screened for breast, cervical, ovarian and gynecological cancers as a result of EIF funding. EIF's Revlon Run/Walk donations have helped women with the highest risk of breast cancer receive potentially life-saving screenings.

ACCESS TO CARE: A majority of EIF's Revlon Run/Walk grantees have specifically targeted women who live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and have little or no medical insurance. Through EIF Funding, 130,000 women were guaranteed free, low-cost and culturally appropriate health care services including clinical exams, mobile mammograms, case-management services, group and individual counseling, follow-up care, exercise classes, educational materials, and referrals regardless of their socioeconomic background.

ONGOING SUPPORT FOR SURVIVORS: Courageous women who are fighting cancer have shared their strength by creating weekly and monthly peer support groups which have been sustained through EIF's Revlon Run/Walk funds. Since 1994, more than 23,000 women with cancer and their families have received - free of charge - comprehensive psychological and emotional support services to enhance their quality of life and increase the chances for all women to survive cancer.

PREVENTION THROUGH EDUCATION: Community-based health education programs have been funded by EIF's Revlon Run/Walk so that women along with their families and friends receive vital, culturally-appropriate information about exercise, nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and the risk factors that increase a woman's chance of getting cancer. Since 1994, EIF's Revlon Run/Walk grantees were able to reach over a million individuals with preventive health information on women's cancers, resulting in multilingual outreach through brochures, newsletters, websites, radio, and the publication in Spanish of the nation's first comprehensive book and educational video for Latino breast cancer patients.

ADVOCACY: Since 1994, EIF's Revlon Run/Walk funds helped train and support over 12,000 cancer survivors, their families and health professionals to become the best advocates for women's cancer awareness, from their local communities to the national level.

[Junket]

for people like Fras who don't read links:

EIF'S IMPACT

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS: Research efforts over the years for less toxic cancer treatments include the revolutionary therapy Herceptin® that originated from pioneering research within the Revlon/ UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program and is now available to women with metastatic breast cancer worldwide. Herceptin has proved for the first time that targeted therapy is not only possible but also highly effective. Herceptin has significantly increased the survival rate in over 1/3 of women diagnosed with the most aggressive forms of cancer whose tumors contain the HER-2 alteration and prolong their quality of life. The translation of this groundbreaking research to the bedside is, in large part, due to the efforts of EIF's Revlon Run/Walk participants and their tremendous fundraising efforts. Many women with otherwise inoperable cancers attribute their survival to this groundbreaking therapy.

CUTTING-EDGE SCIENCE: Promising research being conducted today has been funded by EIF's Revlon Run/Walk to bring us closer to finding a cure to cancer. Through beneficiaries such as UCLA Women's Cancer Research Center, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York University School of Medicine. These leading research hospitals are developing more affective approaches to early diagnosis and prevention strategies.

EARLY SCREENING: Detecting cancer early saves lives! Since 1994, over 82,000 women have been screened for breast, cervical, ovarian and gynecological cancers as a result of EIF funding. EIF's Revlon Run/Walk donations have helped women with the highest risk of breast cancer receive potentially life-saving screenings.

ACCESS TO CARE: A majority of EIF's Revlon Run/Walk grantees have specifically targeted women who live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and have little or no medical insurance. Through EIF Funding, 130,000 women were guaranteed free, low-cost and culturally appropriate health care services including clinical exams, mobile mammograms, case-management services, group and individual counseling, follow-up care, exercise classes, educational materials, and referrals regardless of their socioeconomic background.

ONGOING SUPPORT FOR SURVIVORS: Courageous women who are fighting cancer have shared their strength by creating weekly and monthly peer support groups which have been sustained through EIF's Revlon Run/Walk funds. Since 1994, more than 23,000 women with cancer and their families have received - free of charge - comprehensive psychological and emotional support services to enhance their quality of life and increase the chances for all women to survive cancer.

PREVENTION THROUGH EDUCATION: Community-based health education programs have been funded by EIF's Revlon Run/Walk so that women along with their families and friends receive vital, culturally-appropriate information about exercise, nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and the risk factors that increase a woman's chance of getting cancer. Since 1994, EIF's Revlon Run/Walk grantees were able to reach over a million individuals with preventive health information on women's cancers, resulting in multilingual outreach through brochures, newsletters, websites, radio, and the publication in Spanish of the nation's first comprehensive book and educational video for Latino breast cancer patients.

ADVOCACY: Since 1994, EIF's Revlon Run/Walk funds helped train and support over 12,000 cancer survivors, their families and health professionals to become the best advocates for women's cancer awareness, from their local communities to the national level.

Wow.

That's all pretty cool.

But my point is, how much greater would those numbers be if so much of it didn't go to overhead and salaries and covering the cost of the event?

My g/f works for a non-profit, and it's sickening the amount of money corporations donate that go to the cost of sponsoring their project, and going to over head. On a regular basis, according to her, anywhere between 30-50% actually gets to where it was supposed to go.

Like I said, I don't see a break down of the proceeds.

[vashti]

It's the runners who create the awareness. (The proceeds are for the programs listed above.) Without awareness, there wouldn't be anywhere near the same amount of money being raised. Unfortunately, in the fundraising world, the saying is true that you have to be willing to spend money in order to make money.

[1averagejoe]

I'm going to have to partially agree with frasbee here. But disagree also. There are some of these organizations that don't give as much of the money that is given from runners/riders and they are crooked. You need to look up reviews of organizations before you toss money into them.

But, either way the money that you do spend is not all going to research or whatever anyways. Some of that money is needed to host the event. From paying people to help run the event, shirts, food, drinks, little trinkets they give out, tents, advertisement, etc...

There is something good that does come from all this though. A lot of this advertising and creating an organized group or event brings more people in that want to be apart of a large thing like this. One of the big ones I know about is Team in Training. You basically donate a bit to some organization, they have people that will help and coach you and you'll meet new people, make new friends and they'll tell you about local events/races/runs that are going on.

I need to get back into running when I can get back onto the bike. I've always wanted to do a marathon...