Clean Cars...Dirty Money?

April 30, 1997

When was the last time you actually stopped at one of those corner car wash fund-raisers? Unless a friend or family member is sponsoring it and has begged for your support, you probably do what I do and just drive right on by. Would you stop if the wash supported a good cause? How about if there were several topless women handling the hoses? Real Radio's Russ and Bo were betting this would lure several dirty cars on Thursday, April 24th, and they were right. They raised over $3,500 in three hours for breast cancer research - a success by any measure, right? Not quite. They can't seem to give the money away.

Russ and Bo tried to give the money to Orlando's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The center turned down the funds. Real Radio's raucous pair then contacted the American Cancer Society who also said no. According to Russ Rollins, both organizations felt the topless carwash was disrespectful to women with breast cancer who may have lost breasts. Rollins disagrees. "There are people out there who need help, and we raised this money legally. You know who feels really bad are the girls who went out there and did this. Most of them know someone with this disease." Rollins also explained to me that what they did allowed them to raise breast cancer awareness and, at the same time, keep their listeners' interest.

Although the issue of respect is part of the reason for their unwillingness to accept the funds, Martha Johnson, Director of Public Affairs for the Orlando Regional Healthcare System, says it's not the main reason. As part of the ORHS, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center must follow a policy which requires preapproval for all fund-raising events. Russ and Bo didn't have any prior agreements with the cancer centers and Russ admitted they knew the centers probably wouldn't want to be actively involved in a topless carwash. They didn't, however, think the centers would turn down the money, and they say they would have allowed the person accepting the money to voice any concerns over the nature of the fund-raising.

Would the cancer center have approved the carwash had they known about it in advance? Johnson told me she didn't know. While she thinks Russ and Bo's intentions were good, several patients and survivors called to say they felt the topless carwash trivialized the disease by focusing on saving breasts rather than saving lives. "Our patients come first. We deal with breast cancer every day. We're thinking about inviting them (Russ and Bo) to talk to our breast cancer patients."

Although they don't want to reveal any details yet, Russ and Bo are now working on a few different options for giving the money away. Hey, I have an idea. Maybe they should purchase breast implants for a few willing volunteers to guarantee even more satisfied customers at the next carwash - all in the name of breast cancer research.

Anna Sheldon
I'm a transplanted Detroiter who's slowly (and, I admit, a bit reluctantly) growing fond of Central Florida. I miss the Great Lakes, apple orchards, snow and six months of bug-free living, but I'm really getting used to the daily (almost) sunshine, the lack of slush and salt, pothole-free tourist-funded roads and not paying any state income tax. The thing that makes me feel most like a Central Florida native: In the two years I've lived here, despite the outrageous number of "visitors" I've had, I've managed to avoid going to the Magic Kingdom.