Why knock the ice bucket challenge?

I needed to get some of these thoughts out of my head so this is what happens.  My thoughts are never very organized so these blogs suffer the same fate. 

ALS is a terrible disease.  I've heard many people say that they don't want to get really old, to the point where they can't take care of themselves, that they'd rather pass away before hitting that point.  Now imagine that happens to you before you turn 30, and at a rapid rate.  Not only can you not take care of yourself, you lose the ability to speak, to move, to do anything that you were just capable of doing a few months before, and currently there is no cure so you know that it will kill you (and typically sooner rather than later) I can't even imagine. 

There are many diseases and causes out there that we are unaware of.  Yes Lou Gehrig put a face and a name to this disease but many people still had no idea what it was...until now.  This ice bucket challenge that was sent into a whirlwind by Pete Frates (http://petefrates.com/ read his story) has brought awareness to a disease that is unknown by many.  It has also raised an unprecedented amount of money for an organization that is in place to help these individuals and their families who are hit with this diagnosis.  Wheelchairs are a necessity. Software to help individuals communicate is a necessity. Insane amount of health care is a necessity.  These things don't come cheap.  So far there has been over 31 million dollars in donations to the ALSA (there are other organizations out there who I am sure can add to that total).  Can you even process what that means to these families?  Have you ever been helped?  Have you ever felt like everyone finally could understand, maybe just a small fraction of what you are going through and was willing to do even one small thing to help?  Now multiply that by 30million... 

To say that the ice bucket challenge is doing nothing but wasting water is just an uninformed statement by someone who is apparently having a bad day.  We waste water EVERY day.  We shower for too long.  We flush every time we use the restroom.  We leave the water running while we brush our teeth.  We leave half empty water bottles unfinished on end tables (or maybe that's just my family). Have you ever taken part in a water balloon fight? Super soaker war? Slide down a slip and slide? Did you feel bad afterwards or tell everyone it was wasteful...yeah I didn't think so.  So what's your real issue here?  Every bucket dumped challenges at least 1 other person.  That is one more person to donate, one more person to learn about a disease, one more person to have a little fun.  Get over yourselves and just let it happen. 

It is a well known fact that Cancer has made it's mark on my family.  It doesn't define us, but it sure likes to hang around a lot.  Everyone knows what cancer is but it's still hard to get people to stay invested in our cause.  Not everyone has the heart and the passion that I do to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society.  It is impossible to assume that the 637,527 NEW donors to the ALS Association are going to continue to do so for the remainder of their lives but does that take away from what they've already done?  Are the 5,10,100, 10,000 dollar donations they've made (thanks Charlie Sheen) somehow less meaningful to those who are receiving the donations?  I highly doubt it. 

So to those of you who are having a huge issue with what is going on, I challenge you to 1. get over yourself, it will fizzle out (sadly) and you'll go back to reading the typical daily facebook drama soon.  2. Find your passion, find your cause and do something about it.  Maybe change up the ice bucket challenge to fit where your heart lies and see if you can get people on board.  3. Quit fighting battles that aren't worth the fight.  Are you really asking people to stop the movement just because videos annoy you?  I question your motives. 

I am hoping to use this challenge myself as motivation to spread the wealth to some other unknown organizations.  Just because something hasn't directly effected me already doesn't mean it wont.  Matt didn't want to do the challenge.  His passions lie elsewhere, and then he was introduced with someone who has ALS the day after we talked about why he didn't want to do it.  Things change in an instant and some day if this happens to you or a family member or someone you know (my prayers are that it doesn't) your tune may change.  Act now.