It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Should You Think Before You Pink?

According to thinkbeforeyoupink.org, here are the questions I should ask:

• How much money from the purchase actually goes toward breast cancer?
• What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
• What breast cancer organization/programs does the money go to?

Turns out that when I felt all warm and fuzzy last year after handing out a bagful of pink-ribbon Tic Tacs to family and friends, my $23 worth of good feelings (30 boxes at 79 cents) only gave the charity CancerCare a total of $1.50, and then only if Tic Tacs hadn't already reached its donation max of $100,000 for the two-month campaign. And Everlast, which makes the pink boxing gloves I bought for about $35, only donated 5 percent of glove sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Gee, that's means I helped raise another $1.75.

Once you know where your money is going, you can hop onto charity navigator, a site that rates charities based on their financial health and organizational efficiency. For instance, if you buy a pink-ribbon product that donates part of the purchase price to Susan G. Komen for the Cure (funds research and prevention), Breast Cancer Network of Strength (offers emotional support to sufferers), or Breast Cancer Research Foundation (funds research and hikes breast health awareness), it's nice to know that those charities get four stars, the highest rating. CancerCare, which helps cancer victims with financial problems, also has a good rating with three stars.

I'm not really knocking Tic Tacs or most of the other pink-ribbon efforts. Actual fund-raising aside, I've always thought seeing those bright ribbons everywhere probably did other good: reminding women to get mammograms or to send Aunt Alice a card congratulating her on finishing chemotherapy. And, hey, if you have a pack-a-day breath mint habit, why not buy the pink ones for the couple of months they're available?

But I can't help but feel there are better ways for me to help prevent and cure breast cancer. Like writing a check that goes directly to the BC charity of my choice. Which I'm going to do right now—with my pink-ribbon pen.

Read Anne's previous posts:
Christina Applegate Chose Breast Reconstruction, So How Come Other Women Don't?
Should Women With Breast Cancer Be Guinea Pigs?
The Survivor Files: Amazing Women Share Their Breast Cancer Journeys
Could Where I Live Raise My Risk of Breast Cancer?
Breast-Cancer Scares: Bras, Abortion, Deodorant. Fact or Fiction?