Why I Support The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

If you’re on social media, you’ll have seen a whole bunch of people dumping large buckets of ice water on themselves. There have been celebrities and just your average joe taking part. At first, you may have thought it was just the latest internet craze, but hopefully by now you’ll know it’s in the name of charity.

Called the ALS ice bucket challenge, the challenge involves dumping a bucket of ice water on yourself and donating $10 to the ALS Foundation in the US and nominating others to do the same. If you are nominated and don’t do it within 24 hours, you donate $100 (depending on which rules you follow).

So what is ALS and why is this ice bucket challenge important? ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND) here in Australia is a debilitating and terminal illness which severely affects the motor neurons—the cells that control voluntary muscle activity such as speech, walking, swallowing and movement of the body.

There is no cure and most treatments only momentarily prolong the inevitable.

There are a few negative nancies out there who aren’t a fan of the challenge and have said that after raising nearly US$80 million, that ALS has had it’s time to shine and other charities should have their go. To these people, I respectfully say: bugger off!

There is Daffodil Day, Jeans for Genes Day, Red Nose Day, Pink Ribbon Day and any number of other fundraisers which are well known by Australians and raise millions of dollars each year alone. These charities are great and are of course worthy of your donations.

But let me ask you this—before the ice bucket challenge, had you heard of ALS/MND? My guess is probably not and if you had, it’s most likely because you know someone who has/had this terrible disease so you know just how bad it is. This time last year, the cause only raised US$2.5 million which only goes so far. These organisations don’t have a high number of regular givers so any funds raised must be good.

My friend Amy was 17 when her father was diagnosed with MND, he was in his mid-forties. Her family watched him go from an active father and husband to someone confined in a wheelchair. He is unable to walk, feed himself, brush his teeth, or even scratch his nose. For six years, Amy has had to explain to people what MND is and how it affects her dad. Thanks to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, more people will understand their struggle.

“It feels like the world has finally caught on to what we have been going through the last six years and the support is amazing,” says Amy.

“Our family is so grateful for the awareness and money raised for MND. My dad has really enjoyed seeing all the ice bucket challenges, especially from people like Bill Gates and Oprah.”

I’m generally not a fan of the “raise awareness” social media campaigns, no makeup selfie and the like, if they aren’t followed up by donations because really, it would be hard to find a person who doesn’t know what breast cancer is. Funds still need to be raised but awareness has well and truly peaked.

In the case of MND, any awareness is great and donations are even better. The more people who know about this disease and donate money to finding more effective treatment and a cure, the better.

So whether you like the ice bucket challenge or think it’s a waste of water (which is a whole other issue), allow ALS/MND to have their time to shine. It’s long overdue.

If you would like to donate to help research efforts for MND in Australia, you can at MND Australia.