This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

6 Off-The-Wall Things to Buy While Supporting the Cure

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Have you bought your gun for the Cure yet?

The calendar still says “September” but stores are already stocked to the eyeballs in contrasting colors of the season. One end of your favorite store is no doubt full of spooky orange and black Halloween gear, decorations and candy. And the other? Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The cause to fight breast cancer has gone corporate, leading many to be concerned about “pinkwashing.” Pinkwashing is when a company slaps a pink ribbon on any old product hoping to win over the hearts of their customers, without being terribly clear how much money is donated to fight cancer.

No one is suggesting customers not buy pink products, but to use a little common sense. And check those labels to see where your donations (if any) are going.

Find out what's happening in Fenton-High Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here are some of the more interesting things you can buy while supporting breast cancer research this month.

Cookies for the cure: these giant cookies were placed near Walmart’s “Power of the Pink” campaign display. Can a cookie fight cancer? We hope so! Nothing on the package says the purchase will help fight cancer, but Walmart is listed as a corporate sponsor of the “Power of the Pink” campaign.

Find out what's happening in Fenton-High Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Compassionate bread is higher in fiber: Healthy Life Bread is running a contest where you can win free bread and help them find 60 breast cancer survivors to receive their “Gift of Compassion” prize pack. There’s no mention on their website if they are directly donating to breast cancer research, but the contest is still interesting.

Plant some hope: EuroBlooms is selling pink tulip bulbs marked “Plant Hope.” The package clearly states that they will donated 30 cents for each package sold, with a cap of $100,000 to Susan G. Koman For the Cure.

Fight cancer with fashion: Wal-Mart is well stocked in a variety of pink t-shirts. The manufacturer, American Crown, says they donate to three breast cancer charities, but isn’t very clear how much of your money is going there.

Shoot cancer dead: Here’s one for the NRA woman in your life. A 9mm Smith and Wesson with a pink grip. Unfortunately, this one is out of stock, but while it lasted S&W donated proceeds to “a breast cancer awareness charity.”

Look ridiculous for the cure: We don’t know what the Komen foundation was thinking of when they put these pom-pom gloves on their website store. The fine print on Komen’s site says that 25 percent of every purchase goes directly to their foundation.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Fenton-High Ridge