October is the month so many people generously donate to breast cancer charities. It’s really touching to see how caring complete strangers can be.

I think many people with kind hearts believe their donations are really helping to find a cure or make a positive impact on a cancer patient. There are lots of organizations and businesses, large and small, that imply a donation will do just that. Please take a few minutes to research where your donation is going to before you give. Unfortunately, very often a lot of your donation goes to marketing to raise more money or sell more product, and not fund research.

Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) has a lot of financial information that is very helpful in choosing where your donation can do the most good.

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a couple of the highest rated charitable organizations are Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Breastcancer.org.

Most large medical centers conduct research and have doctors and scientists that need funding for their investigation. Contact them directly to see where help is needed.

If you really want your donation to have a positive impact and be spent on things other than banners and T-shirts, please check out where your donation is going and how it will be spent.

Linda Pratt, Federal Way