It looks like CM Punk doesn’t really need a wrestling ring or a live mic to drop pipe bombs. The former WWE star and current UFC trainee took to Twitter last night to comment on WWE once again teaming with the Susan G. Komen foundation to raise money for breast cancer research.
If you’re going to give money to a company that claims to raise money for finding a cure for cancer, please do some research.Komen is a scam
— Coach (@CMPunk) October 6, 2015
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If you’re going to give money to a company that claims to raise money for finding a cure for cancer, please do some research. Komen is a scam — Coach (@CMPunk) October 6, 2015
According to Punk’s tweets, the WWE and the Komen Foundation do roughly the same thing — mislead the public to get their money — but the WWE does it for entertainment and the Komen foundation does it in the name of charity. The latter is far more dangerous since it deals with the lives and families of breast cancer patients but it’s tough to call Susan G. Komen a “scam.”
What Punk is referring to is the amount of spent towards actual cancer research compared to the size of salaries pulled in by the heads of the foundation. According to records, the former CEO of SGK made over $684,000 a year while only 20% of the money raised in the name of breast cancer research went to actual breast cancer research. The remainder of the money did, however, go to other sections of the company deemed just as important by the company’s executive board.
While it may be true (or have recently been true) that breast cancer research comprises only a 21% share of Komen’s program expenses, citing that figure as a criticism of the organization reflects a common misbelief that groups dedicated to addressing particular diseases (e.g., the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the ALS Association) exist solely or primarily to fund and direct research into curing and/or preventing those diseases. This perception is inaccurate: Komen and other groups like it have goals that include delivering a wide array of services to the communities they support beyond the funding of research, such as funding educational awareness and outreach programs, providing screening and diagnostic procedures, and arranging medical treatment and home care for persons currently living with those diseases.
It’s tough to call the Komen Foundation a bunch of scammers but it’s easy to see how terrible it looks on paper that the CEO of a non-profit pulls in over a half a million dollars a year. I will agree with Punk on one point, however, and it’s “always do your research.” Especially when it comes to money and charity.
[via SEScoops]