All right, so a close friend challenged me and my husband to the #icebucketchallenge . Granted, I tend to be skeptical of these things, so I decided to do a bit of research.
This is what I found.
Information about ALS: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/detail_ALS.htm
Interesting fact: Lou Gehrig was a baseball player whose career (and life) was cut short by ALS
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/bay-city/index.ssf/2014/08/think_the_als_ice_bucket_chall.html
ALS Organization: http://www.alsa.org/
Information about where the donation money went last year: http://www.alsa.org/about-us/financial-information.html
Concern with challenge: Ice Bucket Challenge is a fad, which means that it will go out as quickly as it came… and with it, research dollars that they need on a steady basis: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ice-bucket-challenge-cash-raised-cant-fill-hole-als-research-n186356
Decent post about why the Ice Bucket Challenge isn’t a bad thing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-hicks/how-is-the-als-ice-bucket_b_5697924.html
Related post from the wife of a man with ALS: http://www.bostern.com/blog/2014/08/15/what-an-als-family-really-thinks-about-the-ice-bucket-challenge/
In the long run, we decided to make a donation. Not much, but hopefully it’ll help fund their research. And regardless if that research is able to help ALS treatment, research can sometimes find cures and treatments for other diseases, if indirectly.
If you haven’t had a chance to look at what ALS is, I encourage you to do so. Even if you can’t donate, and even if you plan to avoid cold buckets of ice water, a little knowledge can go a long way in helping solve all kinds of problems.
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 