It seems you cannot turn on social media these days without hearing about the ALS Ice Bucket challenge. The idea, initially, was two-fold, to raise 1. money and 2. awareness about living with ALS. It is a degenerative neurological disease in which the body slowly stops working. It is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the famous baseball player who was one of the first people to be diagnosed.
Sufferers of the disease lose control of their body, but never lose control of their mind. It’s been likened to being buried alive or slowly suffocating in sand. Not very welcoming images.
The controversy on social media is the perceived water waste for people who are taking part in the challenge. I have seen lots of videos posted to Facebook and You Tube. Some are dignified, some are humorous and some are disgusting. Recently I was challenged to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. This hits very close to home for me. One of my parishioners died from the disease last fall. He was in his 70’s when he was diagnosed, which is “late” for diagnosis. Another of my parishioners is currently battling the disease and she is only in her 50’s. She has an 13 month old grandson. Slowly, she is losing control of her body, is now full-time in a wheelchair.
Her and her husband built a barrier-free house in the same community as her daughter and they are living with the disease. I decided, last Sunday, to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, on the front lawn at the Church by the Church sign. In collecting from the folks attending church we generated $50 which I will mail to the ALS Society of London.
Folks are getting upset because water is being wasted. And while that may be a true statement, Canadians and Americans waste an inordinate amount of water every day. One person participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge will not make a child in Africa die of thirst. It’s the same concept as not eating our dinner as a child would make a child in Africa go hungry.
I chose the front lawn of the church so the water could be return to the ground, sacred ground at that. The ice was collected and used a second time for my husband and daughter to participate. There was very little waste, in my humble opinion.
The other controversy surrounds the funds being pledged and generated. Every non-profit charity is held to great scrutiny at times like this. And they should be. Administration can often make up 40% or more of funds received. Back in the day when I had a “real job” I worked for three health-charities. All of them worked on shoestring budgets and were not supported by United Way. Our Administration stayed at approximately 8% which was considered high.
There will always be people who try to pull a fast one. They will make a video and not donate. Or collect money and not send it in. However, the vast majority of people will send in money, will pledge to send money and follow through. Standing on a fence built of moral high ground is not a fence that will be strong. It will blow as the wind does and eventually you’ll be sitting flat on your butt. A humbling experience indeed.
Do I support the ALS ice bucket challenge? I do! I did, and I challenged my brother and sister-in-law.
Do I understand the cries about wasted water? To a certain extent, I do. And that is why we chose to be economical in the amount of water we used and in the location where the water was poured. I do think there were some videos that were excessive, but I expect it was more about people trying to promote a greater video than to intentionally waste water.
The bottom line for me is that the challenge raises awareness about a disease that has no cure. If 1,000 people now know about the disease, it was worth the media hype.
So everybody, please calm down. If you don’t want to participate, then don’t. But please stop shouting platitudes at those who choose to participate.
Every party has a pooper.
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