Downturn Slows Elite Charity Events

"I understand that this is an extraordinarily difficult time and that people are now both reluctant to 'commit' and to ask others to support their endeavor," he wrote. "Nonetheless, cancer remains a plague, and this is no time to back off our efforts."

Chris Walsh, a 46-year-old salesman, acknowledged that "it does get more difficult every year to make the minimums."