The Ice Bucket Challenge

My friend Sean challenged me to this, and I put him off initially because it was pouring rain outside, and that gave me time to think. First of all, I've never been a fan of peer pressure giving. I'm very, very careful about my charitable giving, and vet the foundation before I give. Secondly, I don't talk about it. It's not a matter for boasting. Finally, I was uncomfortable with the concept of publically calling out and shaming other people into taking the challenge.

So here it is. I will be making a small donation to the ALS cause, there will be no ice bath in my near future, and I'm not nominating others. If you feel moved to give, do so. But don't let 'your right hand know what your left hand does' and if you want to take an ice bath, have fun, make a video, and we will all laugh along with you.

In the meantime, I'm fairly sure that the vast majority of people taking this challenge don't actually know what ALS means.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a degenerative nerve disease that slowly kills the nerves, leaving the sufferer paralyzed in time, but before that, they slowly lose feeling and control of their extremities. Sometimes known as Lou Geherig's Disease after a famous baseball player who fell victim to it, it's untreatable, and palliative care is all that is currently possible. Some people have life-threatening cases, others do not.

I am hoping that the funds being donated to this cause are used toward developing the technology and medicine we need to see nerve damage being reversed. There are many diseases and injuries that could be benefited by that.