If one more person nominates me for this ice bucket ALS challenge...

theexactlee

Honestly my mind was still just wrapped around that number. I've done so much talking about this the past two days my brain has melted. 

BUT I do fully agree with you @Fran1985. What this man did was genius. Absolutely genius and he didn't even mean for it to be. The Ice Bucket Challenge certainly hit a sweet spot and I hope to see other things like it in the future I just hope they don't have a "call you out" aspect because this is what bothers me most. 

Viczaesar

theexactlee said:

More or less important, of course not. Less in need, absolutely. ALS is a rare disease that targets about 5,000 Americans. There are diseases that target enormous groups of Americans every single day. These causes need a cure immediately and if their usually donated funds are being cannibalized due to a sensationalized fad I find that unfortunate. The ALS foundation has recently been called out for fudging their numbers against the CDC who says they actually only have about 2500 victims. 16 million dollars for between 2500-5,000 people in comparison to diseases that kill 10s of thousands more people? I'm not being inhumane, I'm being logical.

No, it doesn't target about 5,000 Americans.  About 5,600 Americans are diagnosed with it every year.  There are about 30,000 Americans living with and dying from ALS.  This disease needs a cure just as much as any other disease.  And no, the CDC does not say that there are only 2500 "victims", nor has the ALSA been called out by the CDC for "fudging" numbers.  The CDC has a different estimate, namely 12,000 people with ALS in the United States, and even they acknowledge that it's hard to estimate how many people have the disease.  That's why the CDC is launching an ALS registry.  You want to know what the CDC says about ALS?  How about looking at their webpage on it:  http://www.cdc.gov/features/alsregistry/

You STILL have not explained how organ donation affects all Americans. 

Viczaesar

Fran1985 said:

theexactlee said:

Sorry I did mean to say annualy I think it's obvious I did my research and simply mistyped. As far as the organ donation, yes your family member can absolutely make it impossible to harvest your organs. They can refuse certain medical treatments, keep you on a ventilator until your organs are deemed worthless and other things that in no way actually refuses your right to donate your organs but ensures you will not be able to do so. If you have the conversation with them ahead of time about exactly what your expectations are in the case of your hospitalization in a near death situation it could help. Especially if you draw it up in a legal document that you and your spouse or family member who will oversee your healthcare can sign.

Not getting in to a which disease is worse but you said that there are only 2500 victims, and then complained that 16 million dollars is going to 2500-5000 people. That's not mistyping- you obviously didn't understand that that's an annual number. Which is fine I've messed up before too but don't say you obviously meant annual. Also the money goes to research, not the actual people. And finally, if you want to start a campaign for your cause, go right ahead. I seriously do not understand the "well I wish it went to organ donation or another cause." Ok so start a campaign that goes to that cause. Pete started using the ice bucket challenge for ALS, because he has ALS. If you have a cause that is dear to you, do your ice bucket challenge for that cause, or pick a different thing to do for your cause. Pour maple syrup on you for your cause or whatever.

Hear, hear.

By the by, I am also personally affected by organ donation, as I am by ALS; I have a very close family friend who is currently waiting to receive a liver. 

theartistformerlyknownas

I don't get the "affects everyone" reasoning either. Sure, anyone could eventually need an organ, but anyone could be diagnosed with nearly any disease too. And often these diseases rely on organ and tissue donations as part of treatment. Or treatments for one thing are found while researching another. They're all linked and equal. It's not like anyone's trying to get you to donate to juvenile Shetland pony ass cancer foundation.

doeydo

I think theexactlee meant that organ donations would potentially help and save the lives of a lot more people suffering from any number of things (an accident, kidney failure, etc.).  I think a lot of people just don't think about or are unaware of the impact they can make by becoming an organ donor. 

VulgarGirl

I once dumped a big ass bucket of ice water on my head for charity. I was volunteering with the charity at the time and said that if we could raise $1,000 I'd let them dump a bucket of water on my head. They got that grand together real quick like after that....shit was cold. 

Anyways, that's all I have to add. No one has challenged me and I keep just watching the celebrity videos.

I love when things like this "go viral", I find it really interesting how much social media can interconnect us all. It's just kind of cool to me to see it in general.

theartistformerlyknownas

^that way makes more sense to me. Raise the money AND THEN dump the ice. If it was you had to pay $20 to challenge someone I'd be down.

holyguacamole79

Regardless of your thoughts on the topic, I think we can all laugh at this

22 People Who Should Have Definitely Not Taken The Ice Bucket Challenge http://bzfd.it/1BuB8TC

theartistformerlyknownas

flantastic said:

The challenge has done good work. I just don't understand the people who are like, "I don't understand why people are criticizing this!" because I will criticize almost anything, good or not, if I see major ways it can be improved or better thought out.

Also, someone mentioned to me yesterday that with the number of high-profile and really wealthy people who have now done the challenge, it's probably actually shameful that only so many millions of dollars have been raised.

I was wondering about this breakdown too. I'm sure the 80/20 rule is at play, where 80% of the money came from 20% of the people. All of the videos I've seen on my feed had people saying things like "I was challenged to dump this bucket on my head OR donate $100." They're not doing both. And all the comments are like "yeah, way to go, you're so cool!' so it's totally reached AW levels, in my circle. And just mentioning ALS doesn't raise awareness of anything besides the term ALS. Nobody's aware of the warning signs or the risk factors or what it actually does to people or why the money is needed or what it will go towards. Just nobody wants to be the one singled out who hasn't had water dumped on their head.

flyingfoxes

I was nominated last week.  Unfortunately that day I'd already made a donation to my local animal shelter so I didn't even respond to the challenge.

levieenrose

My sister was nominated (she donated) and then pointed people to thewaterproject.org. Her friend added  http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/. 

My favorite water project is Pure Water for the World.  They use locally sourced, renewable resources and teach the communities how to construct purifiers out of their local resources so the process doesn't fall apart after volunteers or foreign aid disappears. http://www.purewaterfortheworld.org/

Just mentioning it in case anyone wants to be conscious and spread the word when being "nominated."

(Didn't read the whole thread; sorry if this is a repeat...)

PrettyGirlLost

ElcaB said:

The fact that people are criticizing this whole campaign is ludicrous to me. 

My first (and most important) point is, when has "DONATE MONEY TO A CHARITY" ever been an incredibly successful method of garnering donations? Look at the facts: The ALS Association has seen a 766% increase in donations from July 29 through today, compared to the same time period in 2013. I doubt a few encouraging "Donate money to ALS" posts would have garnered the same results, nor 307,598 new charitable donors. 

Secondly, I'd like to point out that many of the folks we see dumping buckets of ice water on their heads are both making a donation and participating in the viral challenge. If they only posted videos of them writing a check or donating online, it wouldn't be a viral campaign. 

I just can't get over people reacting negatively to others who take part in a challenge that has been so indisputably successful in raising money for the cause. 

Great, this is a successful PR stunt for ALS and is raising a shit ton of money for them!! Kudos!  That is very, very good.

But to me all this tagging and video posting on FB is the equivalent of chain letters from high school- you have to participate now that you have been tagged or else!  Or else what?  Nothing!

This campaign isn't enforceable.  No one is going to physically and forcibly make anyone write out a $100 check or dump water on their heads.  Participation is voluntary- just like all donations are and have been.  Hence why they are donations. 

What I think is stupid is that ppl are being annoyed and harassed by friends and family members to participate.  Like I said before, people should be free to donate to the causes that they choose to donate to of their own free will, and they should be free to donate as much or as little as they deem fit.

They should not be shamed on FB just because you (general) chose to participate in this event and you then tagged them.

PrettyGirlLost

ClimbingBrideNY said:

AddieCake said:

I agree the awareness and increased donations are great, but I also agree that shaming people or badgering them about it is uncool. 

Scribe, I would message her privately and ask her to stop. 

Ditto. 

One of my FI's friends has nominated him. He's not going to do it. But now his friend is commenting on my page to remind FI that he was nominated. Uh, no. 

See^  This is fucking stupid.

I'd tell him to knock it off or I'm going to block you.  Congrats on your donation, feel free to make another in my honor if you so desire ;-)

doeydo

SMH, ALS Ice bucket challenge Halloween costume:

climbingsingle

Hahahahaha! That's awesome. 

theartistformerlyknownas

Well I finally got nominated. I'm just ignoring it. I've already donated to the Cancer Research Institute this week via my t-shirt purchase!

Cookie Pusher

I got nominated as well. I've let the 24 hours elapse. I'll put up a video at some point this weekend with my feelings on telling other people how to spend their money.

RebeccaB88

I'm lucky I haven't been nominated yet. My best friend would have, had we not gotten into an argument over whether or not this cause is draining funds from other important causes, and whether or not those who don't donate are stingy or cheap.  If I am nominated, I will not do it and I will tell them why. I've selected my charitable donations for this year, and I am not doing some silly stunt because of that.

I have a medical condition that's starting a fundraiser they're trying to get to go viral. I have to make a video of myself explaining that I have this condition and what it's meant to my life, and ask people to donate just $1.00 to our research foundation. The premise is that everyone has a dollar in spare change floating around their house and car, and if a million people just donate a dollar each, that's a million more dollars than we have now to give to research for a cure.  My condition is far more rare than ALS and does not receive any public funding for research (ALS does). It's an expensive disease, there is no cure, and it can kill. So we need all the help we can get. (I'm not saying that ALS is not a worthy cause, as it is most certainly that. I'm saying that there are a lot of causes just as worthy, and I've chosen mine. It's just not ALS.)

If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll link you privately. I'm going to work now but I'll answer later tonight when I get home.