This sounds awful, but I think walk-a-thons are kind of stupid

It's true. I do. I understand the idea behind it, to raise awareness... but I think more awareness could be raised if, instead of walking around a track for 12 hours, which is what the Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society's, event consisted of, people walked door-to-door for 12 hours, collecting money from each house, and handing out a pamphlet with information about whichever disease they were trying to raise awareness about.
I'll admit that Relay was really nice, I had a lot of fun, and it made me reflect a little and realize how good my life is. When I saw the the bags, lit by candles, (called luminarias) all labeled with people's names who had or have cancer, on the border of the walkway, it really made me realize how lucky I am.
And when I heard that my friends had raised $100, $200, even $300, I wished that I had put more effort into raising money. But I have to believe, if I understood the idea of Relay more, I might have put more effort in.
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this post, but I just kind of wanted to get the idea out there that we think that walk-a-tons are a great way to raise money, but there may be other ways out there to raise even more money, and help to fight the awful monster we call cancer.