One of the cooler things that the people behind Breaking Bad have done is turn SaveWalterWhite.com, the website that Walt, Jr. created to raise funds for his dad’s cancer treatment, into an actual, real-life tool to raise money for cancer research. That is, until it turned out that the cancer charity that was receiving the funds, the National Cancer Coalition, is one of the 50 worst charities in America, as detailed by a recent report in the Tampa Bay Times.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
The rankings were determined by what percentage of a charity’s money goes to outside fundraisers. Non-profit experts say no more than 35 percent of a charity’s funds should be paid to professional fundraisers (such as telemarketers who solicit funds), while The National Cancer Coalition pays nearly 50 percent of their funds to them.
According to the investigation, the National Cancer Coalition has raised more than $41.5 million over the past decade and spent under $43,000 per year on direct cash aid. In addition, it found that though the charity claimed to be donating drugs to a vaccination program in Ghana, the organization in Ghana had no record of such donations. [THR]
Thankfully, the link to the National Cancer Coalition has been “permanently removed,” according to a representative from AMC, but not before over $100,000 was directed to the charity. So, if you’re keeping score in all this, Saul Goodman, who was using a cancer fundraising site to help his client launder the money he earned from cooking and selling methamphetamine, was somehow just barely the shadiest person associated with it.
