#IceBucketChallenge

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is sweeping the nation.  Friends, family, dignitaries, professional athletes and countless other celebrities are doing it (ok, technically it's a totally countable number, but I'm not going to).  And for some reason this is rubbing some people on the interwebs the wrong way.  Why, in a time where there's a land war in Ferguson and people literally lighting themselves on fire in online challenges that support nothing (please don't google that, it will only give them credence), would people waste their time bitching about this ice bucket thing?  And why would I possibly waste my taste bothering to write up a retort?  Because the internet, basically.  I considered not bothering to write this, but then I realized I could at least use it as a platform for some education.

Full Disclosure
ALS is a cause very near to me.  It is not just a terminal disease affecting 5600 new patients each year, it is a disease that has taken the lives of 4 member of my wife's immediate family.  So, no, I don't take lightly to people complaining about the most exposure this disease has had since Lou Gehrig himself suffered from it.

The Challenge
I'm not sure entirely where the whole idea started.  I saw it in the beginning of the summer being used by women's basketball to raise funds for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.  At some point, some family member of an ALS patient picked it up, and their challenges eventually reached Peter Frates.  After it got to the former college baseball player, diagnosed in 2012, it took off.  The "rules" of the challenge vary, but basically you dump a bucket of ice water on your head, donate to charity, and challenge more people to do it.

The Results
The results have been massive.  One of the complaints I see on comments sections daily (moral of story: don't ever read the comments section) are that people aren't calling for donation, how is this helping?  By now, hopefully, everyone has seen that answer.  Though a lot of videos don't explicitly make the call for donations, people see them, research it, feel inspired, and donate.  According to an article I read yesterday, the ALS association has received $9.5 million in donations since the end of July.  Last year it was $1.6 million over the same time.  IT'S WORKING!  And even if no one who does the video donates, for a non-profit raising funds for an little-known disease exposure is everything.  Last year, the ALS Association estimated half the US didn't know what the disease was.  Here's some Google Trends to help:

Frequency of search terms "ALS" and "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis"

Search for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is more than doubled this month from the 5 year average, searches for ALS up by 50%.  This is big.  This is amazing.  People are complaining, "well the people in the video are just doing it to see themselves on the internet".  Who gives a crap?  Look at the numbers!  Keep posting yourself on the internet dumping water on yourself, if I keep seeing these results.

I've also seen "I don't have the money and don't want to dump water on my head, why are people forcing this down my throat".  True, it's a bit forceful being called out by your friends.  But I realize everybody has their own charities, or their own things going on in their lives.  You should not feel guilty turning this down, and if your friends can't handle that, maybe you have crappy friends.  Heck, if this inspires you to go donate or volunteer for some other cause, more power to you.  The bottom line is this is friendly, in good fun, and not some mandate from a Higher Power.  The amount you donate, if you should so choose, doesn't have to be what someone says in their video.  It's a free world, man, just let this wave of awesomeness wash over you.  Besides, like all internet trends, this will fade out pretty soon.

My Walk

I am walking once again in the Walk to Defeat ALS, in support of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the ALS Association.  Those funds go directly to people suffering from ALS, and taking care of ALS patients, in the Rocky Mountain region (mostly Colorado and Wyoming, a little from neighboring states).  I got challenged yesterday, and will be doing my video shortly.  And, if you go donate to my walk team this week, I will match all funds raised up to $1000.  Here's to you, Marlene, Janie, Carol and Bernard!

http://webco.alsa.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=10192&team_id=275520

Parting Thoughts: ALS can suck it.