Only Christians Get Type 1 Diabetes?

The JDRF just sent me one of those mailings that makes me question whether to send them another dime.

You know the kind I mean--the ones that contain expensive "gifts" intended to guilt you into sending them a bigger contribution, but which, if you have already sent a contribution or two, make you wonder why your money went to buy greeting cards or stickers and expensive postage for oversize envelopes instead of funding research that might help people with Type 1 Diabetes.

I get a lot of these expensive mailings from the JDRF and they are turning me off to the organization.

This one was more annoying than usual, because it contained a big fat pack of Christmas cards. And I mean "Christmas" cards. Red and green with text and imagery that even on the cards that did not use the "C" word still made them unsuitable for sending to people who aren't Christian.

So I came away wondering why the JDRF's fundraising geniuses decided to send out a fundraiser that carries the subtext that people who do not celebrate Christmas need not feel guilty for not sending them money. Bad move folks!

But least they didn't send out candy cane stickers like the ADA does every year. Which reminds me it's time to remind you that before you respond to the American Diabetes Association you should check out what percentage of your dollar will go into "activities"--in California it may be less than 33% elsewhere not much better. The Charity Navigator gives them the very lowest ranking possible--one star out of four.

The ADA raised $213,464,233 last year. That's a lot of money. It does NOT fund its journals which are subscription only and very expensive--and which researchers must pay to get their studies published. Did it fund direct research? No. Because that isn't the ADA's mission.

So where did that money go? Good luck in finding out. Perhaps it went into printing and distributing flyers telling people to eat healthy whole grains, pasta and bananas or urging them to keep taking Avandia until more studies are done. That's the main "educational" message I've seen from the ADA over this past year. And of course it must be expensive gearing up to put "Diabetes friendly" labels on low fat boxed breakfast cereals--that's the ADA's next big "breakthrough".