Participation in one of the nation’s largest Komen Race for the Cure events has dropped dramatically this year as the organization continues to experience backlash for its controversial reversal of Planned Parenthood funding earlier this year.
KMOX in St. Louis is reporting that registration for this Saturday’s race, the first to be held since Komen’s decision to continue funding Planned Parenthood, dropped from a high of 71,000 to just 44,000 this year.
The dramatic drop is a clear indication that damage has been done to Komen’s reputation after the fiasco in January in which the organization decided to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood, then caved a few days later to political pressure and reversed the decision.
The fact that many former supporters are still angry over the affair is evident in the number of participants in races taking place this spring across the country. According to National Public Radio, the Washington DC race was down 30 percent this year. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina race was down 40 percent and participation in Tucson’s race dropped 25 percent. An upcoming race in Seattle is expected to be down by a third.
Komen is considered to be a global leader in the movement to end breast cancer, but it’s struggling to hold onto its once sterling reputation.
“No matter what is happening in the outside world we stay concentrated on our mission,” said Helen Chesnut, executive director of the St. Louis affiliate, to KMOX. “The only losers in any kind of controversy are usually those who need the help the most, and that’s the reason why we can’t be distracted.”
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I used to support Komen until I heard about the affiliation with Planned Parenthood on EWTN. Although many are upset about the fact that the innocent will be adversely affected with the drop in fundraising, how about the innocent in the womb that are truly at crisis here! Komen had a chance to speak volumes on behalf of the unborn, yet chose to be “politically correct,” which equates to “humanly correct” as opposed to “Godly correct.” And the biggest irony is that I’ve read that there have been studies regarding the correlation between abortions and breast cancer; so, looks like it’s back to what came first, the chicken or the egg. I’m a breast cancer survivor of 14 years and would have loved the support, but I don’t want blood money or dirty money. We MUST continue to serve only one God and to do His works. Thank you so very much for spreading the Word and doing God’s work on EWTN. I’m due to be laid off shortly, so eventually I’ll have alot more time to attend your seminars to equip me to roll up my sleeves for God’s work, as there obviously is no stability or loyalty in the world’s work. I’m stunned and ashamed that with all the unemployment out there, that there aren’t thousands of people offering to do missionary work or at least volunteering more in their communities. And some of those very people keep asking why their prayers are not answered. Naturally I buffer my response by saying that awesome things happen when we start helping others and stop checking our own pulse. Blessings to y’all at Grace!
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