My ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

September 23, 2014 0 comments Article Charity

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What Is ALS?

Before you can really understand the meaning behind ALS, you need to understand what ALS actually is and what it represents.

Of course you could do a Google Search and find out immediately that the ALSA.org web site is a major resource representing the ALS Association.

In short, Lou Gehrig brought national attention to Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is also closely associated with the professional baseball player. The disease is progress in nature, meaning the effects start out slowly and then spread to rapidly affect the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cords.

The motor neurons that spread from the spinal cord throughout the muscles in the entire body start to degenerate which leads to loss of voluntary movement. The progressive nature of the disease causes patients to be paralyzed and eventually leads to death.

Who Started The Ice Bucket Challenge?

Anytime something like this happens in a viral fashion, I am always curious who started this and what are the foundations.

Just like any other news or information, you want to do thorough research and validate among many sources by cross referencing the articles that you read. Never believe everything you read on the Internet. In other words, take everything with a grain of salt and realize that some things might just be completely false.

There are always three sides to the story: this side, the other side, and the truth. So now that you have that disclaimer, here’s what I found.

Often, Wikipedia is a great base for general knowledge and tends to be vetted by a number of people. Although, many researchers, librarians, and historians do not consider Wikipedia as a legitimate source.

As a result, I often look to Wikipedia as a source of information which then can point me int he right direction. They have a whole post on the Ice Bucket Challenge and credit the beginning of this challenge to Pete Frates who was diagnosed in 2012.

Tips For Taking The Challenge

  1. Since this is a social challenge, it’s certainly appropriate to use hash tags. Here are the most popular ice bucket challenge hash tags: #icebucketchallenge, #ALSicebucketchallenge, and #strikeoutALS.
  2. Be safe when doing the challenge. Too many people have already hurt themselves doing the challenge. It doesn’t do any good to hurt yourself or others trying to raise awareness for a disease. If you are a small child, elderly, have poor health, an animal, or disabled please use tremendous caution and greatly consider abandoning the ice bucket challenge.
  3. Consider your surroundings and water usage. Many countries and geographic locations are affected by drought and other forms of water scarcity so please, make a donation instead of it makes more sense.

Here’s My Video

Here’s my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I love social challenges and donate regularly to non-profit organizations including the ministries of my close friends. It took me weeks to complete the challenge after being challenged, however with the support of close friends and family I have finally challenged others.