“Don’t raise money for the future – do something for the now”

“Don’t raise money for the future – do something for the now”

[Note:  This post is part of an ongoing discussion about what it means to be a humanitarian activist.  See here for another post by Morgan and here, here and here for posts by the director of the Periclean Scholars, Tom Arcaro.]

By Morgan Abate, ’16 (from Ecuador)

How do you feel, Elon? You’re posting photos of ElonTHON, of you standing and dancing for hours for those who cannot – namely those who are being treated at Duke University Children’s Hospital. I commend the organization for raising more than $180,000 – which translates to about $160 fundraised per dancer.

In my three years at Elon, I have never participated in ElonTHON. When I heard about it in the fall of 2012, I told myself I couldn’t do it because it was nothing like the real THON with which I grew up. Where I grew up, outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State University’s THON was part of the culture of the entire state.

When it came to choosing a college senior year of high school, you thought about attending Penn State mostly for THON. Students spend a whole year fundraising. They spend 46 hours on their feet. The money they raise goes to the families of the Four Diamonds Fund who cannot afford their children’s medical care.

Several weeks before Penn State’s THON, on Feb 2, 2013 at around 9 am, I got a call from my dad. In the two minute conversation we had, my life changed. My brother had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia the day before, and had been admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that morning.

Social media blew up. Everyone in my area knows my family (with four kids at different schools with different friends, everyone knew or had heard of my family), and the hashtag #prayersforMason was trending for a day in Philly. Next thing I knew, I had friends at Penn State texting me during THON, telling me they were dancing for my brother, dressed in orange.

That spring semester was the ultimate challenge for me. I couldn’t go home. My family’s life revolved around a hospital. My sister spent so many school nights at CHOP that she’d fall asleep in class. My brother was confined to a bed, Skyping into class and dealing with chemotherapy.

Now, part of the money that ElonTHON – any Dance Marathon for that matter – raises goes to research. Supposedly that research is looking for a cure to cancer or to at least improve treatments. Well, my mother is a pharmacist. Back in the early 1980s, she had an internship mixing chemo drugs. When my mom looked at the components of my brother’s chemo, she just laughed. The chemotherapy he was getting through an IV contained the same drugs that my mom had mixed three decades ago.

So that money goes to research, right? Meanwhile, Duke University researchers, who write grants to get money for their research, recently announced a potential breakthrough in the treatment of brain cancer.

It may sound harsh, but I’m not sure I agree with the idea that dancing and fundraising money will eventually lead to a cure. Scientists in labs and hospitals around the world receiving aid from governments will lead to the cure.

When the money goes to families who need to pay their bills, though, that’s a different story. It’s part of why I support Penn State’s THON so much. Their money goes to the here and now. On top of that, I know what it is to receive a little extra money when life is chaotic. All of the driving from Philly and back adds up in gas money. And to Johns Hopkins and back. Even the hotel we’d stay in Baltimore at had rates for Hopkins families. That makes a difference. Then there’s all of the food my brother and sister had to buy because my mom and other brother were at the hospital and my dad was out of town.

But there’s something better than fundraising and donating money.

Donate time. Donate blood. Donate bone marrow.

I saved my brother’s life because I sucked up my fear of needles. At the same time, there was no way I wouldn’t have done it. All the money in the world wouldn’t have helped him at the exact moment he needed it. But my bone marrow did. And he’s been in remission for almost two years now.

People need solutions now. Yes, the money might go to helping the masses in the future, but what about those now? Would you donate money if you heard a loved one was dying? Or would you take every test possible to see if you could donate something of yourself?

My sister has pushed past donating money, past this “slacktivism” if you want my view of it. Instead, she donates blood once a month and platelets every two weeks. She switched her career path from veterinary medicine to nursing. She volunteers at Children’s Hospital in Philly as a Bedside Buddy, a role in which she plays with and distracts kids to give the parents a much-deserved break. I remember music therapists coming to my brother’s room and me begging him to do it. Things like that are what make a difference in the now.

So go sign up for the blood drive at Elon. Volunteer at Duke Hospital. Write cards to the kids. Arrange a “Be the Match” event and register yourself. See if your dog can be a therapy dog. If you’ve done these things – great! But don’t just dance and raise money. There are kids suffering now who need a miracle, and you can give it to them.

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