The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

I was challenged and gladly accepted!



As you can see in the video, ALS hits close to home for me, and I'm thrilled to see the awareness of this disease spreading like wildfire the last few weeks. And the challenge has raised upwards of $53.3 million! (Figure as of this afternoon as reported by ALS Association.) That's a nice shot in the arm of funds for research for a disease that barely gets noticed beyond the friends and family members of PALS (People with ALS).

What many people may not realize is that there are enough similarities in ALS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other degenerative diseases that scientists believe finding the cause and cure in one will lead to finding the causes and cures to them all. My dad has Parkinson's. A cure in his lifetime would be truly amazing.

I know there are haters on this challenge, which I just don't get. Awareness is spreading and money is being raised. Everyday people are realizing that you don't have to be a celebrity to make a difference. How can this possibly be a bad thing?

Even the claim of wasting of clean water kind of baffles me - that's like my parents telling me there are starving children in Africa, so I need to clean my plate. How does my clean plate help those kids? Unless you're in a drought area, how does conserving a bucket of water here help those who don't have it elsewhere? If anything, it soaks into the ground, evaporates into the air, and creates rain that falls elsewhere. And the good that it's creating rather than being flushed down the toilet exceeds the waste. If you're worried about supplies of fresh water, stop flushing and taking showers every time you feel like it.

Anyway...the ice bucket challenge is a good thing. I hope you will take it. And whether or not you let freezing-cold water be dumped on your head, I hope you will make a donation. Just $10 helps. $10 x millions of people makes a HUGE difference, as we have seen. Here's the link: http://www.alsa.org/