A number of American Lung Association chapters, including the one in Chicago, have recently cut ties with their national parent organization, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported May 17.

A total of seven association chapters have split from the national group in protest of a consolidation plan intended to make the clean-air and cancer-fighting group more efficient. In addition to the Chicago chapter, the New Hampshire affiliate and several California chapters have broken ties.

The dispute centers on a plan that calls for local chapters to give up their status as independent charities and join regional alliances. "It will bring all kinds of efficiencies into the American Lung Association, which frees more money up for the mission," said the national group's CEO, John Kirkwood.

But Joel Africk, CEO of the Chicago chapter, said, "We just have a fundamental divergency in our opinion about how best to serve the mission. We felt that given the problem of urban asthma, which isn't the same as asthma in rural states, the best way to serve our mission is continuing to have a local organization that has its own budget authority, selects its own programs, and gets the job done."