"One wonders what cancer research could have been funded with the millions used to build the ranch."
As a cancer survivor I will tell you, not a hell of a lot. Cancer research isn't a lack of money. It is a lack of focus of resources. The political agenda that drives breast cancer research and research for the cancers caused by HIV is about being politically correct and not about the cost effectiveness of the research.
Amen. Very little research money goes to younger, more innovative, researchers. Most is politically driven.
The concept of the Imus Ranch, as I understand it, is that the children are treated as individuals who are not defined by their illness. They follow a schedule that permits them to experience contributing to the running of the ranch, and this can be a life-changing experience. They can work. They aren't victims.
It is a real ranch and must be kept running all year, as authenticity is the basis of the ranch experience.
To suggest that the ranch exists for its founder's personal benefit, is absurd. b.