ALS ON ICE!

"Are you having a party?"
"No some friends and I at work decided to do the Ice Bucket Challenge"

Last night, Saturday night, this conversation took place in the checkout line at Shop Rite. They guy ahead of us who was about our age was buying a bag of ice.  I knew right away what he was referring to. I don't know where it started, but I know it's catching on. I learned about it from the NY Giants' website.

The owner of the NY Giants, John Mara, had a bucket of ice dumped over his head in a video and then challenged Robert Kraft (owner of the Patriots), Bill Belichick (coach of the Patriots), and Woody Johnson (owner of the Jets) to take the challenge. You can choose to get a bucket of ice dumped over your head or donate $10,000 to ALS charities. Most people do both.

Soon after I read that Obama was issued the challenge and chose to make an undisclosed donation instead of the ice. His challenger, 86 year old Ethel Kennedy, widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Bill Gates also took the challenge from Mark Zuckerberg after he took the challenge.

 I wanted to learn how it worked. Is there a set amount for the donating? What if someone can't participate in the money donation part and doesn't want to do the ice bucket part? It seems to vary based on who started the challenge. The average seems to be that those challenged have 24 hours to dump the ice or they have to donate $10 or sometimes $100. But you can choose the time and donation amount when issuing the challenge.

It starts with challenging a friend. Much like the guy ahead of us in the store, a group decided they would challenge each other. That means if you would be open to being challenged in the first place, you have volunteered. That's good to know. Not everyone can afford the money donation and shouldn't be forced to be put on ice for their financial status.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is very serious. It's also called "Lou Gehrig's Disease". It effects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and muscles throughout the body. You slowly loose your ability to control your muscles.

http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

My heart goes out to those with ALS and those caring for someone with ALS. It can't be easy to manage. The more it progresses, the less the person with ALS can do by themselves. That must be hard to deal with. The Ice Bucket Challenge is helping bring awareness to ALS and hopefully the research these donations will pay for will make a difference in management and cure.

This challenge has inspired the Robin Williams "Mrs. Doubtfire Challenge". You put your face in a pie or donate to help Depression. He committed suicide recently from depression. I hope Depression charities see an increase in donations as well.

This has me thinking about cancer. So I am issuing my own challenge. I hope it helps with cancer donations. It's the "Planting Challenge"

rules:
you a flower, shrub, or tree or donate $10 to a cancer charity within 5 days of being challenged.

please let me know if you took the "Plant A Tree" challenge. I'm curious about if anyone will.