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Am I the only one tired of the Ice Bucket Challenge??


Moxie
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It was really irking me too until I read an article today.

 

Even though so many have chosen the water, the foundation has received record level donations. (According to the article)

 

If it is helping raise money and awareness I am not sure it is a thing worthy of my irritation.

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My kids and I were talking about this just now!  I read something today that said it actually is helping to increase awareness, and donations (though it did not say what organization was receiving the donations or what they are going to - as you can see I have not researched it greatly).    But at this point I think awareness has been raised, and it is time for people to stop pouring and start donating if they really want to do something. 

 

ETA: Once again BLA5 beats me to it! :hurray: :lol:

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A lot of people are donating *and* doing the ice water thing. They've raised millions of dollars for ALS. It's a lot more effective viral campaign than the inane secret status games that come out every October (where you put your purse at night, what bra color you're wearing, etc.) and supposedly raise awareness for breast cancer.

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From what I've seen most of the people doing the challenge are also donating.    I think most of the donations go to the ALS Association.  According to an article today at alsa.org, they have received $31.5 million compared to a usual $1.9 million.

 

My grandfather died of ALS around 15 years ago and I did find not many people know much about it.

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From what we've read the encouragement is to donate $10 if you do it and $100 if you don't.

 

We've also seen people use the opportunity to donate/mention other charities in addition to als.

 

My kids were really shocked at how cold it was! They've also been reading articles about als. Lots of good discussion about awareness and giving.

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I have been enjoying watching the videos. Some are funny. I saw a video recently from someone who just found out they had ALS who has a mom and grandma who had it and they said they actually were glad that the bucket challenge is raising awareness for it. They are getting lots of donations since the challenge started so it is raising awareness.

 

I am not worried about the loss of a buckets worth of water. That can be less than a toilet flush. Most people waste lots more water in daily life ;) Plus water is the one environmental issue that is very local so it isn't hurting poor nations. Agricultural and Industry uses way more water than personal use. I wouldn't worry about the waste of water from this challenge and I am a very much a environmentalist.

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From what I've seen, you are to donate $10 if you do the challenge and $100 if you don't.

 

I admit I'm kind of tired of it. But when I really thought about it I realized that I like it so much better than those stupid breast cancer awareness Facebook games that really did nothing (post what color your bra is but don't tell anyone why you're doing it???). At least this is truly raising awareness AND money.

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At the baseball game tonight, one of the mascots did the challenge and dh and I were like, wow, this thing has really taken off.  Kermit, President Bush, half the people in your FB feed...  is there anyone not doing it?

 

I can't really fault it.  The supposed waste of water is so tiny compared to the bajillion other wastes of water (I'm sure it's a tiny, tiny fraction of the water wasted every day on dripping faucets in the US) and it's helping a good cause.  It's cool that it went so viral.

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I hate seeing people's dogs get ice water dumped on them! It's reached the saturation point for me. I'm glad it's raising awareness, and glad the charity actually seems to be a good one.

 

What?!  People are dumping water on their dogs?   Do the dogs appear to like it?   I guess... if they know the dog likes it... but I don't get the point of that.  I'm just imagining my dog's reactions; poor guy would freak out. 

 

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I'm getting a little tired of it.  Dd was nominated by one of her friends.  We will probably steer donations toward an organization that does not support using fetal stem cells, but otherwise, I see no harm in it.  I am all for awareness of diseases that do not get enough funding.  I am just tired of my entire fb newsfeed filled up with these. 

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One of the reasons we returned from Mexico to the States this past Spring was because my Dad was initially given a diagnosis of ALS. He was told that he likely had about two years to live and to get his affairs in order. He even had me research the details of the Death with Dignity Act in their home state of Washington. It was an awful time for our family. After many rounds of additional testing, the neurologists said that he likely has another motor neuron disease, but thankfully not ALS. I have to admit that I knew little about the disease before this happened, and it is truly awful. The amount of money raised by this campaign is amazing, and worth the minor annoyance IMHO. 

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I think the part that bothers me is the expectation of a $100 donation from those who are nominated but do not want to participate. 

 

Obviously, there is no way of tracking who does and does not donate, but I don't like people telling me where to spend my money. 

 

I am all for raising awareness of the less known diseases and I think the donations are awesome. 

 

I just choose to donate my money to another charity that is near and dear to my heart but that is also a less known and fatal disease. 

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I'm getting a little tired of it. Dd was nominated by one of her friends. We will probably steer donations toward an organization that does not support using fetal stem cells, but otherwise, I see no harm in it. I am all for awareness of diseases that do not get enough funding. I am just tired of my entire fb newsfeed filled up with these.

 

Me too

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Because of the challenge, and because people are talking about it, I found out that a neighbor of mine (a previously very active, healthy guy) has been diagnosed with ALS.  It was two years ago and because everyone is busy with their lives I didn't realize I hadn't seen him in quite a long time.  I met his wife today and she said "you know that challenge...that is what he has."  I think it is a good thing that it has people talking.  So what if it is a little silly...silly is ok sometimes!

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One of the reasons we returned from Mexico to the States this past Spring was because my Dad was initially given a diagnosis of ALS. He was told that he likely had about two years to live and to get his affairs in order. He even had me research the details of the Death with Dignity Act in their home state of Washington. It was an awful time for our family. After many rounds of additional testing, the neurologists said that he likely has another motor neuron disease, but thankfully not ALS. I have to admit that I knew little about the disease before this happened, and it is truly awful. The amount of money raised by this campaign is amazing, and worth the minor annoyance IMHO.

All of this is so true! My aunt suffered from ALS for 15 LONG years, way longer than the average amount of time it takes to succumb to this disease. It was such a slow and painful decline that in the end she and her husband did choose euthanasia for her. I find all the videos in my feed to be mildly annoying, but I am incredibly grateful for the increased awareness and the stats a previous poster mentioned about the huge increase in donations.

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I had seen in the ice water challenge around my local froends since this past winter for all kinds of charities. Not until recently has it been for only one specific charity. If anyone nominates me they'll have to pay even a 10 dollar donation for us. We need it to feed our kids. I'm seriously tired of it. But fb itself is getting old to me as well. I'm ignoring more people and following more blog fb pages thananything.

 

Eta: obviously I am exaggerating but the vids are getting out of hand. Even local youth groups are nominating people now or you have to give them money supposedly. 

 

I am glad ALS has raised so much awareness. 

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Personally, I hate the donation amount. We donate to charities we have researched and are dear to our hearts.

 

What peeves me is that people are doing this challenge and some don't have a clue what ALS is. It is not Alzheimer's like some individuals I have talked to or posted on Facebook thought it was.

 

Definitely raise a good point there! I didn't know what ALS was either, and I had to look it up. No stories I've heard on TV have bothered to say what it is, they just show people participating.

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I had seen in the ice water challenge around my local froends since this past winter for all kinds of charities. Not until recently has it been for only one specific charity. If anyone nominates me they'll have to pay even a 10 dollar donation for us. We need it to feed our kids. I'm seriously tired of it. But fb itself is getting old to me as well. I'm ignoring more people and following more blog fb pages thananything.

 

Eta: obviously I am exaggerating but the vids are getting out of hand. Even local youth groups are nominating people now or you have to give them money supposedly.

 

I am glad ALS has raised so much awareness.

I am not opposed to raising awareness and fundraising, congrats to the ALS foundation for a successful campaign.

 

That said, it reminds me of a chain letter. Dump ice on myself or pay up? Neither, thank you.

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I've been in marketing and/or fundraising for more than 20 years...I had a long chat with my dh about his negativity toward it.  People complain about every marketing/awareness tool used. Send direct mail -- you're killing trees.  E-mail? (besides the fact, it still is not very effective as a fundraising tool -- comparatively anyhow) The organization is sending SPAM. Telemarketing? Harrassment.  Special Events?  Elitist, too expensive.  The ice bucket challenge?  Stupid and wasting water --just donate (that's the mild complaint)  The ones that really peeve me essentially complain that there aren't enough people suffering from ALS and your money should go to something more worthwhile.

 

Anyone can find something to complain about every single method of outreach/marketing/fundraising technique.

 

But, if techniques like these aren't used -- awareness doesn't happen, donations don't come in, and organizations/charities only exist in people's minds.  People aren't made aware/informed, people aren't helped, research isn't funded, laws aren't passed/changed, medications/treatments aren't discovered.

 

I once helped raise money for the Boggy Creek Gang camps started by Paul Newman (camps for critically ill/terminally ill children), and worked with Gen. Schwarzkopf to do it.  We used direct mail.  The fundraising piece had a nearly 20% response rate (average response rate for what is considered a successful program to acquire new donors was about 3%). And yup. people complained (not even close to the number of people who supported the effort).  The cost of fundraising was approximately 5% of the total raised (which included the cost of printing/mailing, back-end costs of opening, tabulating, preparing deposits, and all associated fees).  And people are upset by that fact, too.

 

So, while I may be a little tired of all of the challenges -- I get more frustrated by some of the complaints leveled at it.  

 

 

 

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I am not opposed to raising awareness and fundraising, congrats to the ALS foundation for a successful campaign.

 

That said, it reminds me of a chain letter. Dump ice on myself or pay up? Neither, thank you.

 

Same here.  I'm amazed at how many people are doing this in a sheeple sort of way.  It's not for me.

 

On the other hand, if these folks are not already donating some of their money to good causes, I guess I'm glad a sheeple event gets them started and/or thinking about it.

 

I ignore it all as much as I can - and continue our regular donations to our causes (medical, educational, organizational, etc).

 

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Definitely raise a good point there! I didn't know what ALS was either, and I had to look it up. No stories I've heard on TV have bothered to say what it is, they just show people participating.

 

 

I think an awful lot of people ARE looking it up. I was thinking how silly (because it doesn't explain) yesterday, then I asked my kids what ALS was. All of them had researched the disease and knew exactly what it entailed. So, I think it IS working to educate as well as raise money. The donation part is certainly working!

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You're actually supposed to donate $10 AND do the challenge.  I don't know why no one is saying that in their videos.  They should be saying it because the way it is perceived is that they are doing the challenge to avoid donating, which is just wrong in my opinion.  I am so sick of it that it was one of many reasons that I decided this was the week I'd be taking a Facebook break. :)

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/20/anthony-carbajal-ice-bucket-challenge-als_n_5696085.html

 

This video might change some opinions on the whole campaign.  

Watch it through to the end.

 

Yes. This. This is the video I shared on FB because it really brought the whole thing in to perspective for me. While many of the videos I laughed at and enjoyed (the Foo Fighters Carrie parody was fantastic) this video was the one that made me donate. I think this challenge idea was a great use of multi media, and they raised a record almost $9 million in one day alone because of it. I am glad this has brought this horrible disease in to the forefront because before this barely anyone knew what it was.   

 

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Definitely raise a good point there! I didn't know what ALS was either, and I had to look it up. No stories I've heard on TV have bothered to say what it is, they just show people participating.

A formerly homeschooled student made a video in a very creative way.  She set it to music, shot it in slow motion in black and white and included the build up of her younger siblings getting everything ready.  She interspersed text describing what ALS is, what it does, who gets it, how it has been funded until now.  It was a fabulous video.  Unfortunately, it has been taken down because she used a song without permission from Billy Corgan. 

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I love watching the videos. I love how some actors are challenging the entire cast and crew to complete and donate. See Hugh Jackman's.  I have had several friends and my brother complete it. Raising awareness and watching people get iced is awesome. I hope they raise lots of money and even if people don't donate just to ALS various charities are benefitting.

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I am more than thankful that this is increasing awareness of this disease. My father died a little more than a year ago from ALS and it has to be up there with one of the most unforgiving and cruel diseases of all time.

 

I'm sorry about your father, and I extend my sympathy to all the others who've posted on this thread who have been affected by ALS.  My cousin was diagnosed in his early 30's and died in his late 30's.  He was only two years older than me.  ALS is a truly horrible disease.  There are lots of things that I find tedious and silly, and lots of things that I would accuse people of being sheeple for participating in.  Having a little fun while raising money and awareness for a devastating, incurable and mostly untreatable disease isn't one of them.

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I'm sorry about your father, and I extend my sympathy to all the others who've posted on this thread who have been affected by ALS.  My cousin was diagnosed in his early 30's and died in his late 30's.  He was only two years older than me.  ALS is a truly horrible disease.  There are lots of things that I find tedious and silly, and lots of things that I would accuse people of being sheeple for participating in.  Having a little fun while raising money and awareness for a devastating, incurable and mostly untreatable disease isn't one of them.

 

Thank you for the sympathy. We were stationed in KS when we found out in 2011 that Dad had ALS. Thankfully the Army provided a compassionate reassignment so that we could move back to NC and I could be closer to home. I was able to help Mom in Dad's full-time caregiving responsibilities as Dad lost the use of his arms/hands first, so all of his daily needs needed to be met. Watching him go from a completely strong, independent man to one that relied solely on others for every single need, in such a short amount of time, was gut-wrenching and awful in so many ways. On the other hand, I was so touched by watching my own sons become Grandpa's helpers and for them to be so selfless in their willingness to help my father, even with tasks that were less than desirable. It still brings tears to my eyes and makes my heart swell with pride :)

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