Not Supporting Komen These Days???

D'Lyn's Note:  Yes, this is a loooong post.  If you're going to take the time to read it, please take the time to read the whole thing -- all the way down to where Norm talks about how I'm a rockstar or awesome or something like that.  And please don't start a wave of ugliness after it.  If you do, I'll be forced to turn off the comments.  

Dear Friends,

A few people have sent emails or called concerning the PR scandal involving Susan G. Komen for the CURE and Planned Parenthood that took over the news cycle earlier this year, and they have asked me to forward their opinions to Komen.  I've sent them to Norm Bowling, the most head honcho of the head honchos that I know at Komen.

Norm sent me the following email in response, in hopes that it would better help you understand the relationship that Komen has with Planned Parenthood.

On a personal level, I'd like to share what I shared with another sponsor yesterday.  It's been revised a bit since yesterday -- in all honesty these ideas have been in the revision process for about the last three years.  

Please understand that if I thought for a second that I was helping fund abortions there is no way I would do what I do. I detest abortion.

I think the Planned Parenthood issue was a PR disaster, and I think you'll see that resolved in the very near future. Komen's support of Planned Parenthood from the very beginning was nothing more than a token support -- designed to provide breast health services -- and only those -- where there were no other options for helping the women who needed it so badly.

The problem with this whole situation is that people on both sides of the issue have used this to draw a line in the sand. As you know, the problem with lines in the sand is that sometimes you have to cross them.

If your wife or daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer, would you turn down any treatment that was discovered with Komen-funded research? I'm betting not. I'm guessing you'd be just like so many of us and be thankful for all the advances Komen has made in the last 20 years -- advances that are saving lives.

This issue is affecting both sides of the coin. Just as many Pro-Choice supporters have pulled support from Komen because this life-saving institution DARED to pull their paltry support from Planned Parenthood. They've drawn lines in the sand as well.

The trouble with all this -- Women will DIE because of this mess. People on BOTH sides of the issue are pulling support because Komen "let them down." The 3-Day series will bring in $17-21 MILLION less than last year. And that's just the one program I'm involved with.

Are you prepared to avoid any company that supports Planned Parenthood?  Google it -- the list is rather long.  If your higher moral ground won't allow you to support the life-saving research and services Komen provides just because they have the audacity to provide breast-health services through Planned Parenthood, I hope you'll avoid those companies on the list. I guarantee you the money that Whole Foods donates isn't geared toward saving lives.

I appreciate the phenomenal support you've all given to Team Tiara over the years, and I know you don't mean this personally at all. I just hope you understand that if people on both sides of the issue use Komen to make their points, they will be voting with the lives of women and men who had absolutely nothing to do with this fiasco.

Trust me, I'm ticked off at Komen, too. BUT for me this walk isn't about Komen. It's about honoring the Mom I lost five years ago. A Mom who would be SO PROUD of my girls, who would expect a play-by-play after every soccer or softball game.

You helped us lay the groundwork for Team Tiara, and you helped us build it into what it is today.

This month we presented a $25,000 grant directly to Dr. Jenny Chang with Methodist in Houston for research into metastatic breast cancer -- an under-funded area of research where we desperately need to have an impact. And we presented a $5,000 grant directly to The Rose to fund mammograms for women who don't have health insurance. Neither one of those grants touched Komen in any way, shape or form. Neither one would have been possible without the foundation you helped us build.

Thank you for that, and thank you for letting me share my heart. 

Seriously, please don't turn this into an ugly discussion -- if you do I'll have to give you the mean Mommy look -- and you know I don't like to do that.  

If this information I've shared today has brought about a change of heart for you, please consider making a donation to a Team Tiara team member TODAY.  We have 11 days to raise approximately $21,000.  You can easily donate at www.the3day.org/goto/teamtiara2012.  I'm especially asking you to consider donating to Cinda Brown, Tanya Croft, Laura Davis, Bernadette Dohmen, Amy Martin, Charlotte Stuart or Diane Wiley.  

You see, those walkers have not reached the $1,000 mark yet. According to the new "Pay before you Play" rules with the 3-Day, each of those walkers MUST raise $2,300 before the walk -- or they won't even be allowed to join Team Tiara on the route.  

If this information hasn't changed your views at all, please consider donating to Team Tiara's Metastatic Breast Cancer Research Fund.  You can do so with an easy donation at www.teamtiara.net or send checks payable to Team Tiara, P.O. Box 2433, Cypress, TX 77410-2433.  

A friend of mine compared this to looking for a new church.  Sometimes after a while the church you're going to just doesn't fit any more, and you need to look for a new one.  And that's great as long as you don't stop going to church. 

Maybe donating to Komen doesn't work for you anymore -- but please don't stop supporting this cause.  Find a new place, a new way.  

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Many Blessings,

D'Lyn

Norm's email:

Dear D'Lyn:

Thank you for passing along the questions from your donor about Komen-funded grants to Planned Parenthood. It is important to all of us that donors and constituents get accurate information.

Komen provides funding for local community health programs through our network of more than 120 affiliates across the United States. Each affiliate is responsible for assessing the breast health service needs—including education, screening, treatment and support—for the residents within its region as well as identifying and providing funding to organizations that can meet those needs. Annually, Komen Affiliates fund programs that provide breast health education and breast screenings for hundreds of thousands of low-income, uninsured, or medically underserved women via nearly 2,000 local organizations, including 19 Planned Parenthood sites.

The decision to fund any breast health and screening program is based on a thorough assessment of a community’s breast health needs and resources. In some areas of the U.S., our affiliates have determined a Planned Parenthood clinic to be the best or only local place where women in need can receive breast health care at no cost.

In all cases, Komen funding is used exclusively to support breast cancer programs, including clinical breast exams conducted by trained medical personnel. When symptoms indicate a need for further screening, patients may be provided with a referral to obtain a mammogram. Depending on local resources, that mammogram may be paid for using a Komen grant.

Twice each year, Komen affiliates conduct a thorough review of their community health grant programs to ensure that funds are being used only for breast health services. Under no circumstances are Komen funds used to fund abortions or other non-breast services, and any service provider shown to violate those rules would be immediately terminated from the Komen grant program.

During the past five years, Komen Affiliate grants to Planned Parenthood have funded 169,777 clinical breast exams and more than 6,400 mammograms. Our mission is to help save lives by increasing screening rates among all populations of women across the U.S. and around the world. As long as there is a need for health care for vulnerable populations, Komen will fund the facilities that can best meet those needs.

We very much appreciate the support we receive from the faith community and will continue to work with organizations and individuals who share our goal of helping women and families facing breast cancer in our communities. We very much hope that people of all faiths will continue to support the fight against breast cancer by participating in Komen activities and events.

A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 74 seconds, and we cannot win the battle against breast cancer alone. We need the support of our local communities to ensure that we are able to continue providing vital services to women and their families.
For additional information on this issue and Komen’s overall work in local communities, we invite your donors to visit our website at www.komen.org<http://www.komen.org/>.

I hope this information is helpful, D'Lyn. Thanks again for your amazing support over the years and please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best, Norm.