Last Updated on: 18th November 2019, 06:57 pm
I really, reeeeeeeaaaaaaly hate this kind of garbage. It’s one of the things that keeps me away from making donations to a whole lot of charities.
Lorna Robinson wants to walk with her cancer survivor daughter in the 2 day Weekend to End Women’s Cancers fundraiser in Calgary this July. Her daughter raised $2000, while Robinson herself managed to raise $500. Pretty good, eh? I’d say it’s more than fine, but then again I’m not speaking on behalf of the greedy scumbags at the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the organization putting on the event.
The foundation requires that anybody, and that includes people pushing wheelchairs, raise a minimum of $2000 if they plan on walking the whole 2 days and $1250 if they’d like to tag along for 1. It doesn’t matter if your daughter had cancer or even if you’ve volunteered your time to the event in previous years. No money, no walky. And if you do walk, we’re billing your credit card for whatever hasn’t been raised. Oh, and there’ll be none of this refunding the donations you’ve gotten up to this point talk either, thankyouverymuch.
Foundation spokesperson Lee Elliott says that yes, everybody has to raise as much money as we tell them they have to, but it’s all for health and safety reasons, you see.
“If we had thousands of other walkers, walking along side supporting them – and that could be the case when we make an exception – then we can no longer ensure the health and safety of people along that route,” she says.
So let me make sure I’ve got this right. If you don’t arrive with large wads of cash in hand or paid in advance you’re a security risk and may die, but once you’ve fed the beast, you’re fine? Uh-huh.
She also denies that the foundation said it would bill anyone’s credit card, but since we’re dealing with an organization that won’t let you participate in something but will take your money anyway, I’d be surprised if nobody said that to this woman at some point.
It disgusts and offends me whenever I see charities like this one that feel they can set rules like this and truly believe they’re entitled to as much of your money as they want. If you’re in a position to be that demanding, how hard up can you be? Or maybe you’re too hard up and need to get some of those administration costs down.
The idea of charity is everyone giving what they feel they can, and then what’s given gets distributed to those who truly need it. It’s ok to run a charity a little bit like a business, but only in the sense that you don’t want to be losing money hand over fist. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, should be getting rich off of charity work. And no charity has the right to tell anyone what they have to give. Whether each person raises $2000 or $20, you take it and be happy that you have money you didn’t have before. For some people, $20 is a huge gift. Yes, Alberta Cancer Foundation, I said gift. You know, one of those things that people don’t have to give you, but do because they care. And if you notice, the people who demand more and more gifts are the least likely to get them once they aren’t cute kids anymore. Keep it up, and you’ll find yourself in that boat eventually.
I hope the Robinsons get to walk, but if I’m them, I’m not sure I want to bother. These people don’t deserve another dime of my money or a minute of my time after the way they treated my family.