Think Pinker

It is that time of year again when the leaves change colors and so to do the store shelves. I am taking of course about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all of the pink products that hit the shelves of your local grocery stores. You would think that this would be a good thing for breast cancer research but as I am slowly learning, there are many companies that are only in it to further their bottom lines.

The problem is that we as a trusting society look at a label of a product that sports the now famous pink ribbon and say, ‘Heck, I’ll buy this brand to help out breast cancer patients.’ It is a wonderful sentiment but in many cases it just isn’t true. Many companies are simply slapping on an unregistered pink ribbon picture and saying something like, ‘Awareness is key,’ only in an effort to prompt people to buy the product. The result is no money going to benefit those afflicted with breast cancer.

Still other companies will only donate a certain percentage if you use a special coupon. And I thought the only scary thing in October was Halloween. So how do you know what is legit?

A good way to see who is really helping out is to visit some of the websites that  can benefit from the funds that are to be raised. Sites like Susan G. Komen for the Cure have sections devoted to their corporate sponsors and partners and in these sectins you can see exactly what amount of money will go to benefit breast cancer and you can then shop from there.

Of course you can always skip all the pink products all together and just donate directly at Komen or any other worth while charity’s website. Thinkpinker.com still urges everyone to do their parts, but just be a bit more careful before you do.