America's National Coffee Day is this Saturday, September 29, and Caribou Coffee is joining the march of philanthropic campaigns using Facebook to launch initiatives and gather momentum in a new partnership with CancerCare, a national nonprofit that provides free support services for anyone affected by cancer diagnosis. Customers can stop in for a free small cup of Amy's Blend coffee on Saturday, and learn about the woman who inspired this annual philanthropic campaign.

The brand was inspired by Amy Erickson, the company’s original roastmaster, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 1995 and inspired the Amy’s Blend program, which originally partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and is now sharing the love with CancerCare. But as you can see from the packaging, it's not just about Amy's story — it's Gretchen's, Caryn's, Gigi's, Cindy's, Lisa's and so on.

So for the 17th consecutive year, Caribou (tagline: "Life is short. Stay awake for it.") will donate 10% percent of all proceeds from Amy’s Blend collection sales between Sept. 29th and Nov. 7th to CancerCare and for every new “Like” the brand will give an additional $1 to the organization.Continue reading...

It’s hard to do serious damage to an institution that is doing great work toward putting an end to breast cancer, one of the world’s leading reasons for women dying. But it turned out that all it took was for Susan G. Komen for the Cure to say it was going to stop sending some cash over to a fellow nonprofit focused on women’s health, Planned Parenthood.

That decision proved to be controversial, seriously damaging for the Komen name and resulted in a lot of good PR and cash donations to Planned Parenthood. Komen eventually decided to re-instate the dough for Planned Parenthood but not before lots of donors had already sworn off giving more funds to Komen.

The whole thing is now back in the news thanks to this month's release of Planned Bullyhood, a book by former Susan G. Komen for the Cure vice president for public policy Karen Handel, who resigned in the midst of the turmoil. According to the Daily Caller, her new book is receiving some “pushback from Democratic National Committee chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republican strategist Karl Rove.”

Komen, of course, would like the whole thing to go away so it can go about rebuilding its brand — and continue to put the hurt on breast cancer. One effective way to fight the good fight is to partner with a brand known for its brawn: WWE, whose start wrestler John Cena is hleping promote pink and black Komen-branded gear, on sale through October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.Continue reading...

It's Labor Day in the U.S., a public holiday which has become America's biggest retail sales day of the year.

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AP is reporting that Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's leading breast-cancer organization, has accepted the resignation of Karen Handel, its SVP for public policy since April who was at the center of a firestorm after the Dallas-based non-profit pulled funding for breast-cancer screening to Planned Parenthood centers.

Handel, who's reportedly declining a severance package, was behind the pink-ribboned organization's recent policy to not give grants to any group under government investigation, a move that singled out Planned Parenthood — which is undergoing a Congressional inquiry into whether federal funds intended for reproductive education were being used for abortions. Komen last week reversed its decision and retinstated funding to Planned Parenthood, but still faced a backlash from breast cancer activists and others outraged at the politicizing of its brand.

Below, read Handel's resignation letter to Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is named after her sister, in which she accepts responsibility for the defunding — but adds that it was in the works long before she joined Komen. Handel writes that "the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization."Continue reading...

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Komen for the Cure founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker addressed the organization's controversial decision to cut funding to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in a six-minute interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, a breast cancer survivor and friend, in one of her first public statements beyond a video statement released on Wednesday. Brinker says the Komen board's decision to make "grant excellence" a measure for funding led to Planned Parenthood being dropped and denied it was singled out or that Komen's brand has been damaged.

New York-based radiologist Dr. Kathy Plesser threatened to quit Komen's medical advisory board unless the decision was reversed. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg also announced that he is giving a $250,000 matching gift to Planned Parenthood to help make up for the loss of funding by the Komen Foundation. "Politics have no place in health care," the mayor stated. "Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way."

The Atlantic this morning reports that the top health executive at the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mollie Williams, resigned to protest the organization's decision to sever ties and funding for Planned Parenthood.

The world's leading breast cancer research advocacy organization and brand is in crisis mode this week to repair the damage to its reputation since the news broke. The Atlantic calls the controversy "avoidable" and "regrettable":

An entirely avoidable, and deeply regrettable, controversy has been raging this week over the decision by the (formerly highly esteemed) Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation, the world's leading breast-cancer research advocacy group, to cut its support for Planned Parenthood, which used Komen dollars (about $600,000 annually) to pay for breast-screening exams for poor people.

Did one of the greatest heavyweight nonprofits in the world just shoot its own brand in the foot — a foot it so desperately needs in the race to cure breast cancer?

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, America's most recognized and funded breast-cancer charity, announced that it will cease its work with Planned Parenthood, a major provider of breast cancer screening. A day after the move, a massive outpouring of outrage has the charity on its heels trying to defend itself.Continue reading...