If you are active on Social Media, watch television, read newspapers or have left your house – even once – in the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Sadly, not quite as many people know about the cause, promoting the awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encouraging donations to its research.
The rules of the challenge aren’t exactly ‘clear cut’, but the idea is that upon pouring a bucket of ice cold water over your head, you nominate a friend to do the same. In terms of donations, some people have said that you either: A) perform the challenge or B) pay a $10 forfeit, whereas others have said that if you do the challenge you pay $10 and if you don’t then you pay a $100 forfeit. Honestly, I think the awareness aspect and eventual donations (total) are more important than the rules for individuals; to some $10 or even $100 is nothing more than change, to others it is more than they can afford.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
The number of celebrities involved has been incredible. Although a number of media outlets have criticised the challenge as celebrities digitally high-fiving each other, as opposed to helping raise awareness, where you can get names such as George W. Bush, Robert Downey Jr, Britney Spears, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, David Moyes, Charlie Sheen, Jusin Bieber, Vin Diesel, Victoria Beckham, Verne Troyer, Usain Bolt, Jack Black and so, so many more attached to a charitable cause is a success in my book.
Rather amusingly, ‘that bastard’ Neil Gaiman was one of three people who named the 65 year old George R.R. Martin to do his part and partake in the challenge – a triple play version. Here’s his reaction that has so far picked up 63,500 views in just under 24 hours:
Not the most subtle, right? 😀
What is so good about this challenge is that the people involved have been wildly diverse. Listed above we have sportsmen, television celebrities, musicians, ex-Presidents and now an author. This means that people from all walks of life with all kinds of interests are being reached. The ALS Association, which raised $64 million in 2013 total, has already taken donations of over $62 million – with more than $10 million on a single day, August 21 2014, alone – this month; pretty incredible.
Please take a minute to visit The ALS page, even if you cannot donate, make sure you take the opportunity to educate yourself of the importance of the work they are doing:
Geoff Matthews
Julia Kitvaria Sarene