The Ice Bucket Challenge is a fast growing social media campaign that was created to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. For those that don’t know, the challenge goes like this:
1.) You are challenged to dump a bucket of ice water on your head.
A. If you do accept the challenge, then you donate $10 and nominate friends to do the same.
B. If you do not accept the challenge, you donate $100.
C. You have 24 hours to respond after being challenged.
Simple enough, right? Well some of the donation aspects of the campaign get lost in the shuffle. For instance, I have encountered numerous people that thought just dumping the water on your head was enough.
Not the case.
You must donate to the cause, otherwise you’re just dumping water on your head. Doesn’t seem like you’re making a difference that way, does it?
This is why there are so many people with a negative view of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Most of the negativity has come from people annoyed that their Facebook feed has been inundated with videos of their “friends” dumping buckets of water on their heads. Other negative views have come from bloggers or semi-journalists who feel it’s their duty to get up on their soap box and let the internet know they are morons. The whole negative vibe is based on people not knowing, or not thinking, that money is being donated.
But it has been. By the truck loads.
According the ALS Association, from July 29 to August 14, $7.6 million was donated to its different chapters. For the sake of comparison, at the same point in 2013, $1.4 million had been donated. During the same period in 2013, the national office of the ALS Association had $32,000 donated. This year that same office has been given $5.5 million.
I’d say the Ice Bucket Challenge is working.
To those aforementioned people who are opposed to the Ice Bucket Challenge and who may not know the entire story of why it is done, I ask you to watch this seven minute special on Pete Frates. Pete was one of the people who started the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. He is a victim of the terrifying disease and you can see how it ravages his body during the two year span this special was shot.
Maybe you should be a little more tolerant of all the videos you are seeing. I participated and donated and I still sometimes find the videos annoying. But when that happens, I think about Pete Frates and how awful ALS is and how there is no cure.
So quit being trolls and putting people down for raising money and awareness for ALS. Get a bucket, make a donation and help make a difference.
[ESPN]
