The Breast Cancer Society of Canada doesn’t seem to think so.
BCSC turned down a donation of funds raised at a strip club event so as not to offend certain other donors.
How nice.
I wonder who else they won’t accept donations from?
Perhaps they have access to studies showing that strippers aren’t women. That they aren’t subject to the same chance of breast cancer as the rest of us.
They claim that they turned the money down because its major donors did not support a connection to exotic dancers.
Did the money have a money shot on it? What the hell?
I propose we send letters to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada which they can read at their leisure and then pass on to their major donors.
Included in this letter would be the definition of charity
To wit;
1. Provision of help or relief to the poor; almsgiving.
2. Something given to help the needy; alms.
3. An institution, organization, or fund established to help the needy.
4. Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity.
5. Indulgence or forbearance in judging others.
And if that is too subtle maybe someone would take it upon themselves to mail a stripper pole or facsimile of with explicit instructions of where to place it.
I sent my letter to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada last Saturday. I’m sure Molly Ivins would have had plenty to say about this.
GAB
Good God!
They’ll be hearing from me too, from a couple of directions. *rrrr*
Well, if that isn’t the stupidest reason to turn down a donation. I thought the point was to actually cure cancer, and not judge who’s giving it to you.
Err that should be not judge who’s giving you money to do so… haha
Thanks for reporting this to a wider audience April Reign!
The receptionist at BCSC seemed rattled and besieged when she informed me no one responsible for decision making was in the office. I left my complaint with her.
I also reminded her that the money originally came from husbands, fathers, sons and brothers of women with (gasp!) breasts, so just whose money is dirty?
I’ve also contacted MP Minna to see if her office can find if the BCSC receives taxpayer money. I’ve also spoken to the NDP MP for my riding about this discrimination. After scouring the Health Canada website, it looks like BCSC may receive taxpayer funds from an umbrella group but could find no figures. So, expect to hear more on this story.
Sent your link to a friend who organized a group which raised twenty-three thousand dollars last year – since size seems to count to them – her response:
” Merci pour l’info.
J’en reviens tout simplement pas!! je vais appeler mon contact lundi ou mardi
XX ”
(boils down to: she’ll be speaking to her contact monday or Tuesday)
Thanks for the info, A.R.! I’ve forwarded it to all my contacts so that they can write/call/visit their MP’s and the BCSC about this lunacy.
As for me, I like your stripper-pole idea, so I guess my fax will be busy for a while…
btw, thanks again for all your wonderful help with my new site!
am 🙂
Great post, AR. What are they thinking? I think I can safely speak for all breast cancer survivors when I say we don’t give a flying you-know-what where the money comes from, as long as it goes towards a cure!!! (And I actually thought the idea of strippers raising money for breast cancer was kinda cute.)
I heard about this again on the radio today. They said they don’t take money from “questionable sources” or some such nonsense. What’s questionable? They don’t want strippers to play a part in curing cancer? I know the real reason is they don’t want to give possibly shady businesses something to point to like a donation that shows up as some kind of indulgence/forgiveness factor in the donor’s promotional literature. Yet if they are too proud to take money, it makes one wonder how badly they need it if they value their name over putting researchers to work.
I’m with you. A very wise feminist once said to me, “Money has no politics.” When you think about it, she was absolutely right.
Good God! What prissiness. As though sex trade workers were inferior beings. What petit bourgeois crap. This story has spoiled my supper.
thanks for your support. I have to admit the pole idea did occur to me….
RR.
Of course it would probably only replace the stick that they have there already. 😉
Thanks for your support. As an ex-dancer with cancer, I’m honoured by the effort ED4C put in raising money…and it was a darn good show!
I’m sorry to hear that Lady Sable, sending positive vibes.