I'd say this is pretty fantastic, I don't care why people are wearing them when this kind of money is being raised
By Sal Ruibal, USA TODAY Fri May 13
How ubiquitous are those bright yellow Livestrong bracelets? When the campaign for cancer survivors hits the one-year mark Tuesday, Nike officials predict 50 million of the $1 bracelets will have been sold. That's one for every six Americans or the entire populations of New York, Florida and Illinois.
When Nike and the Lance Armstrong Foundation planned the Livestrong campaign, their revenue projection was $6 million: a $1 million donation from the sports brand and an additional $5 million in guaranteed bracelet sales. The foundation was created in 1996 by the cyclist after he survived testicular cancer.
"When I heard that Nike was making 5 million of them, I was a little skeptical," Armstrong says. "I figured we'd be shooting them at each other for years."
In its first eight years, the foundation raised $11.5 million. In the year since Livestrong was launched, bracelet sales and other fundraisers have brought in $50 million. The foundation keeps about 77 cents from each $1 bracelet after production costs; 81% of that is dedicated to educational and grant programs for cancer survivors and research, according to President and CEO Mitchell Stoller.
"This has been wonderful but also unexpected," Stoller says.