I have to admit I am a little cynical about giving to charity these days. It seems as though there are so many causes fighting for cash and attention that it's impossible to give to everything. Every day on my way to work I am approached by at least three people asking me for money, and my journey to work is only 30 minutes long. Plus, I know that for some organisations just a small percentage of my donation actually ends up in the hands of those who need it most; a lot of money is spent on campaigning, lobbying, advertising and so on.
But there is one charity that I cannot escape being involved with and that is breast cancer awareness month (BCA). As a beauty editor I have to cover breast cancer awareness month because so many beauty companies create or re-package best-sellers in order to raise money for BCA month. It’s one of those events where it seems there’s an unspoken rule that says you have to cover it, which is fine because it’s for a good cause, but until recently I found the whole thing to be a little cynical, just another marketing tool - I mean, how easy it is for a small unknown brand to produce a limited edition pink product and donate 1p to the charity? They're seen as a caring-sharing brand and they get pretty much blanket coverage from beauty editors all over the country.
However, I recently went to an Estée Lauder presentation to learn more about the BCA campaign and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), and I completely changed my tune, here’s why:
In 1992 Evelyn Lauder (the daughter-in-law of Estée Lauder) teams up with then SELF Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Alexandra Penney, to create a symbol for breast cancer awareness. This is the pink ribbon we know as a symbol of breast cancer awareness. The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Campaign launches in October, distributing 1.5 million Pink Ribbons and 1.5 million “Breast Self- Exam” instruction cards at 2,500 Estée Lauder counters across the U.S. More than 200,000 people sign petitions urging the White House to push for increased funding for breast cancer research.
As a result of this first step in raising awareness of breast cancer the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City opens. This new center was a result of Evelyn Lauder’s successful fundraising drive, initiated in 1989, that raised in excess of $18 million. It became a benchmark for other facilities around the world.
In 1993 the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) was created to address the lack of funding for research in to breast cancer – at this time breast cancer was still a taboo and something that people didn’t talk about openly. Four of The Estée Lauder Companies’ brands – Estée Lauder, Clinique, Prescriptives and Origins, began to offer a gift of a pink enamel badge in exchange for a minimum $10 donation, which raised almost $300,000 for BCRF.
After this success the BCA campaign is launched in the UK and 13 other countries in 1994. Fast forward to 2010 and over 70 countries around the world participate in the BCA campaign. By the end of October, nearly 110 million pink ribbons and millions of informational brochures are distributed worldwide, increasing awareness about breast health to millions of women.
At the beginning of this month, just before BCA month starts, the BCRF has raised over $315 to support the most advanced and promising breast cancer research that will help lead to prevention and a cure in our lifetime – yes, our lifetime! But the money raised won't just stay in America, the BCRF grants are supporting 172 dedicated researchers at major medical institutions throughout the world, including six in the UK. And if it wasn’t for the BCRF many facts about the genetic basis of breast cancer wouldn’t be known, breast cancer stem cells would still be a mystery, and personalized, targeted therapies wouldn’t currently be available. BCRF-funded scientists are responsible for these and many other critical achievements in the fight against breast cancer, and the new drugs and therapies for prolonging the life of women and men (male breast cancer accounts for 1% of new cases).
So, you can be as cynical as you like but you know that when I write about breast cancer awareness month, and all the lovely beauty products you can buy, you know that I am doing it not because I feel pressurised to, but because I know this is a great way to find a cure for breast cancer and save lives of thousands of mums, daughters, grans, sisters, dads, brothers, neices, nephews, cousins and best friends.
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