Conclusion: DO NOT FORWARD this bogus chain letter ANYWHERE. It's

fake.

Furthermore, a *very* quick check of the ACS website exposed the

letter

as a fake. Next time you're tempted to spam hundreds of people, do a
little research first, huh?

*lol*  I'm glad to see there're such stupid people left in the world. 
People who would rather go browse a web page trying to make something
look bad than to partake "*very* quick"ly in passing along some
encouragement to others.  

You want to know what stupidity is, pal? I'll tell you what's stupid.
Stupid is seeing a *chain letter* that allegedly comes from a legitimate
charity and assuming it's for real without performing even a cursory
check. Stupidity compounded is forwarding that chain letter to a mass
distribution list. (To everyone reading this on the FFML, I apologize
for my own non-fanfic posts here. This will be the last one. I felt that
"Odysseus"'s post deserved a reply.)

I think that, whether it was fake or whether it was real, the fact
that
so many people wanted to help was wonderful.  I myself, was certainly
not upset to receive that mail, nor was I upset to invest 2 minutes of
my time to continue it.  I suppose that rather than investing 2
minutes
of _your_ time to help a little girl, you prefered to invest it trying
to expose the letter.  Glad too see people of this world are so
pessimistic when it comes to helping others.  

Believe it or not, email doesn't just take time, it also costs money.
Sending data over networks costs money. The cost for your average email
is a fraction of a penny, but when you multiply that by the millions of
people an Internet chain letter inevitably reaches, you start getting
into real money. I'd wager this particular email has cost at least four
figures... money which, maybe, could have gone to a real cause rather
than being wasted.

I have no problem with helping little girls. I have a *serious* problem
with *fraudulent* attempts to help little girls. And yes, I'm much
happier with two minutes invested exposing a fraud for what it is than
with two minutes spent perpetuating and compounding that fraud.

Look, that letter cost you practically nothing to receive, and if you
didn't like it, then you shouldn't have paid any attention to it.  

It cost me practically nothing to receive, that's true. How much has it
collectively cost all the people who received it?

The next time I receive it, I'm still going to pass it on, simply
because it
sends a message that there are people out here who care.  

By intentionally and knowingly passing on a message which illegally
claims to be representing the American Cancer Society, you are guilty of
a crime. You may wish to consider that before you do so.

P.S.  Do you really think that this message will be fwded around more
than the chain letter you despise?  

God, I certainly hope not. You'll note that I included *no* instructions
to forward that letter.

People send that out of love -- I
don't think there will be as many people sending this simply to spite
something.  You've made no difference in the course of that chain
letter
whatsoever.  It shall continue to go round and round the web spreading
hope to people who need it, and I, for one, shall help it do so.  

If you really want to send hope, don't make the utterly meaningless
gesture of forwarding a bogus chain letter. Send a few bucks to the
American Cancer Society. I do, every year, in honor of my mother, who
perished from a form of cancer that was mostly incurable back in 1973,
but which is now virtually always cured when caught early, thanks in
part to the research sponsored by the ACS. That way, you'll make a
*real* difference, rather than an empty act that gives you false
contentment. 

--JSH