The Lance Armstrong’s confession of being a liar, a cheat
and ruining the careers of many fellow athletes has captured the news since
October with the climax being an interview with Oprah. In October the
‘LiveStrong’ charity that Lance founded asked him to step down. LiveStrong
wanted to distant themselves from their founder and be able to do their
charitable work without the cloud that is all Lance Armstrong.
LiveStrong is a great charity. It funds many educational
programs, research and awareness for men with testicular, and prostate cancers
in particular and all cancers for men and women. The yellow wristbands,
co-sponsored by Nike, were a huge success in awareness and fund raising. Nike
has been one of Lance’s biggest supporters, financially and for PR. Nike pulled
their endorsement away from Lance too.
Last year the Susan Komen foundation had a PR debacle. Nancy
Brinker, the founder of the Komen for the Cure did not respond quickly to some
political and policy PR controversy. One affiliate of Komen for the Cure, out
of several hundred affiliates, in New York was denied Komen funding to support a
grant from Planned Parenthood. The funding was to be for breast cancer
education to the clientele who come to Planned Parenthood in this area. What
came out was news that not only would Komen not support this funding grant but
also some new board members were viewed as ‘conservative’,
The backlash for the Komen Foundation was fierce and
intense. The results were a devastating fund raising shortfall. Nancy Brinker
did not step down. She did not immediately respond or make clear the issues in
question. A year later the Komen foundation is still trying to recoup. The
Komen Foundation set up for the LiveStrong foundation a template on what not to
do!
In a year will the LiveStrong foundation recoup and achieve
their distance from Lance Armstrong? Are we all more forgiving to the personal
ethics violations that Lance Armstrong represents than the political/policy
mistakes of Nancy Brinker?
14 comments:
it's a tough tightrope to walk. When it comes to charity I pretty much just donate to my church and to a honduran orphanage run by someone I know.
SB thanks for your comments which I think reflects many after some of these situations. Questions about where my money goes and what is it used for becomes a glaring doubt in these type of aftermath.
I wouldn't let anything that Lance Armstrong did have any effect on how I feel about the wonderful things that Livestrong does. However the Susan Komen one did change my thinking but they have been mired in controversy before.
Jennifer you are the person LiveStrong has reached and understands!
I am a big supporter of Komen. Clinical testing, drugs, clinical trials, that Komen gave millions to fund I have been a recipient.
I recently read a news article (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/livestrongs_assets_top_100_mil.html) that said Livestrong had a larger than usual cash reserve for a charity, perhaps in anticipation of a donation backlash from Armstrong's anticipated admission of doping.
I think that everyone associated with a charity needs to be on the same page; and checks and balances within the organization should be in place to make sure that occurs.
Livestrong wont necessarily be as affected as Komen...Ithink they were smart to jettison him.
Totally Agree Darlene!
Middle Age Diva, I agree it was a smart move for the charity to ditch Lance!
The bigger picture is what is important. Lance will receive his punishments. It isn't necessary to pass those punishments on to the people who have/will benefit from LiveStrong.
I agree MLG. LiveStrong is a great charity.
Haralee,
It would appear to me that both Lance and Nancy were trying to dictate "outcomes." Lance chose to use his own body to dictate the outcome of his races. Nancy, on the other hand, tried to dictate a political agenda and tried to dictate how other women should handle their own bodies. I can forgive Lance but will never support the Komen Foundation again as long as Nancy remains the head.
Thank-you Beverly for your comments. You make a very interesting point of distinction.
bravo - we should not spite live strong.
Thanks Rachel, Lance is not the charity and LiveStrong did well in quickly distancing themselves.
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