In the past week or so, I have seen this Ice Bucket Challenge everywhere. I had no idea what it was about. I just assumed it was another fad like the Cinnamon Challenge. But a few days ago, I was challenged by my friend, Avery, to do the Ice Bucket Challenge and he mentioned donating to ALS. I was then interested.
Searching The Internet To Learn About The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
I decided to search the web to see if this is a real thing and, if so, how this ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is supposed to go down exactly. There are literally tons of videos, but the first one I ran across {besides Avery’s} was George Strait. If it’s good enough for George Strait, oh, it’s good enough for me. 😉
To this point, I have seen many people doing the challenge, but there are only a very few that I have seen that I feel are doing it correctly and in line with the spirit of this challenge.
Sadly, I have also seen a ton of people doing the Ice Bucket Challenge, without ever mentioning ALS, at all. Yes, many people know this is about ALS, but many may be running across this for the first time and have no idea. It’s about something very important, so it’s imperative that people know the whole point of this ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
What Is ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord…The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death.
Want to learn more? Many people deal with ALS everyday. You can read some of their stories here.
Learn How To Do The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Correctly
DO either donate money to the cause or get the ice bucket dumped over your head.
DO both if you like. Raise awareness and donate. 🙂
DON’T just take the ice bucket over the head and not even mention ALS.
If you choose to just do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and not donate, please remember to talk about ALS and tell others where they can donate. The point of this is to raise awareness about ALS and to bring in donations – not to dump just a block of ice over your head and knock yourself out cold. Yes, I saw that on YouTube.
Examples Of The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Done Correctly
If you would like to see examples of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge done correctly, check out Patrick Stewart, KISS and Def Leppard and, my personal favorite video, Zachary Levi {see below}.
Zachary Levi challenged everyone to donate just $5 to ALS. $5, people. I think most people reading this could probably swing that. If not, just donate what you can. If you can donate more, that’s awesome, too. Just do what you can. And if you can’t donate, do the Ice Bucket Challenge and be sure to mention ALS and where one would go to donate. I bet you far less people know where to donate than have heard of this challenge.
How To Donate To ALS
All you have to do to donate to ALS is to go to the ALS website and click on Donate. You can donate by check via mail, credit card, you can even donate by Paypal!
We took Zachary Levi’s challenge to donate $5 – each. Of course, Cheap Is The New Classy is not just Jay, Amber and myself – we also have a ton of pet contributors. 😉 We donated $5 for each of them, as well. 🙂
I Challenge…
Now for the good part. I challenge Sharon from Hobbies On A Budget, Stacey from Newlywed Survival and Shelley from Still Blonde After All These Years to take this challenge! Donate or make a video and raise awareness – just do what you can. And if one of you wants to roll up here and dump a bucket of ice water over my head, I am okay with that, too. 🙂
I am not doing the ice bucket challenge. I don’t like to be pressured into things like that, but that’s just totally my opinion.
I don’t think asking someone to donate $5 {or whatever they can} to the ALS Association {what I did} is really pressuring people. I sure hope you didn’t take it that way. That is definitely not how it was intended.
This is a great post about this. I’m glad someone finally said something. I think people lose sight of what it’s really all about. Thanks for the info. This is a great post to pass along.
Thank you very much. I definitely think it’s best if people don’t lose sight of what the Ice Bucket Challenge is really all about.
I think it is great that this post is also educating people about ALS. It’s nice to see so many people coming together to stand behind such a great cause.
Haha, I challenged Shelley too, I hear there is a Monroe and Main post twist, can’t wait to see it. This campaign is genius, I wish more charitable organizations could benefit from going viral!
Yay! I can’t wait to see her do whatever she is going to do! I agree. I wish more challenges went around like this to help others. It seems to really inspire people and most seem to really get on board from what I have seen.
If we all just kicked in just a little to help others, imagine what a difference we could make in the world.
I’ve seen some that don’t even mention the charity. It’s a great cause and it deserves all the money it can raise.
Me too. It’s not about entertainment. The ice bucket is supposed to be something that encourages you to donate instead of ending up looking like a wet rat. Too many people seem to think that the ice bucket and YouTube hits are the point.
Agree. I think the ice bucket videos themselves have gotten way more press than the disease. Great to have fun while raising awareness and money but let’s not lose sight of the real goal.
My daughter and I were challenged and did a video, but donated as well. This is a great post, to explain what its all about!
Yay! I am glad that you guys did that. If you want to link to your video, I would love to see it. 🙂
I really think it’s awesome that this challenge has brought so much attention to ALS. I won’t be doing the Ice Bucket Challenge though. I donate regularly already and I also don’t like being pressured into things. I will also add that I have no hard feelings about it being in my timeline constantly nor that it is spreading the awareness. I am also thankful that all of my friends HAVE mentioned ALS in their challenge, even when they didn’t know much about it.
That is wonderful that you donate. It’s great that all of your friends have mentioned ALS in their videos. 🙂
I don’t think the press of the videos have outdone the real goal. Last I checked, ALS raised over $50 Million during this challenge, when they only raised $2Mil during the same period last year. People are donating like crazy!
That is phenomenal! I am glad that this has become a topic of conversation. Personally, I don’t think I have ever known anyone with ALS, so I am glad that the videos that I have seen that mention ALS were able to help inform me. I am sure there are many other people like me out there that this campaign has inspired and informed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-qEYyaO1b4
I stumbled on my words, but here you go!
Awww…your little one is too cute! Thanks for sharing.
Incidentally, it suggested I watch a Creepy Clown Ice Bucket Challenge after I watched yours. I did and couldn’t understand a word it/he/she said. Lol!
I’m not doing the Ice bucket challenge either I would rather just donate the money
Everyone is getting in on this such an awesome charity and a great way to have fun.
Ok. Sure, all the hype takes away from the cause for a lot of people. BUT. What this challenge has done is bring awareness of ALS and attention from a TON OF PEOPLE, and MONEY! And money, it really is the bottom line. I don’t think anyone should knock a campaign raising money for an illness and I personally don’t care how they do it as long as no one is physically hurt or demeaned. Sometimes you have to make something fun and stupid to get attention.
I don’t think anyone is knocking the campaign at all {or, at least, I am not if that’s what you meant}. It’s fabulous and definitely raises awareness in its original form. What I am saying is that people need to remember the reason for the campaign and not just dump a block of ice on their head for YouTube hits without ever mentioning ALS. Not everyone knows about this campaign or ALS. So, videos like that do nothing to contribute to awareness of the disease or raising donations to help fight it.
And some people have been physically hurt doing this challenge. There were some firefighters hurt just the other day. I don’t know all the details about that, though – just mentioning it since you brought it up. And a lot of other people. Sheesh, I have seen some scary videos…
I looked up this challenge too as I kept seeing more and more people in my Facebook feed doing it. Great way to raise awareness for ALS!
Both my husband & I were nominated for the challenge, we both donated to charities of our choice (ALS is important but there are other charities that could use the donation). It was freezing but was a good cause!
Thank you so much for donating. You are right, ALS is a great cause, but there are many others that are, too. It’s awesome that you found a cause close to your heart and chose to help. 🙂
That’s catching on pretty good. What a fun way to raise awareness for ALS!
I still think these are SO fun! I am glad people are doing them.
I was nominated but will not participate for personal reasons. I think far too many people are jumping on this simply because it’s viral.
I think that’s definitely true – which is why a lot of people are not even mentioning ALS anymore. That is why I definitely wanted to write about it. Participate or not, but if you {in general} do, please please please remember to mention ALS – that’s the whole point.
I keep hearing about this but haven’t really paid attention to what it actually was..lol This is the first time actually knew what an “ice bucket challenge” really was. ha ha Great post!
I really like that you brought up the fact that its about shining light on ALS and not just doing the Ice Bucket Challenge for fun and going on with one’s day. I did it. I donated as well…and shared the website on my FB page asking people to check it out and donate if they can. It is indeed a ‘fun’ idea…it gets people involved in a cause in a fun and lighthearted manner. However, we can’t forget what it really is all about.
Weird how different everything is. here it is understood if you don’t accept the challenge you donate $100 if you accept it then you dump it and give $10 (or whatever amount you can) I also wrote about people just doing it and not saying anything etc.
I think the way you understand it is the same here, too. I just liked how Zachary Levi offered that people donate $5 as I assume he realized not all people could afford that. A little something is better than nothing. 🙂
This is such a great cause!
This is the best post I have seen giving the background information regarding this trend. My daughter and I want to take the challenge. Maybe we will do it when we visit Florida so the weather will be nice and hot after we freeze ourselves. LOL!
Thanks so much. And by all means, if you can do it somewhere warm, that definitely sounds like the place to do it to me. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. It’s good to know what it’s all about.
My daughter did the challenge. I think it is great that they’ve raised so much.
My girls and their dad have done this challenge. They understand what is was about. I think this is a neat way to raise awareness.
I love that so many people have gotten on board of the ALS Ice Bucket challenge. I agree the information should be given as to where and how to donate in every video. I hope this keeps going and we can raise tons of money for the research.
there are so many worth causes. I love that this has drawn so much attention to ALS.
I personally won’t be doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. I would rather just donate to their charity.
One of my husband’s dear friends is suffering from ALS. My husband opted not to do the ice bucket and instead donate $100. And prayer — lots of prayer!!
I have never known anyone with ALS {that I am aware of} but I will definitely keep your husband’s friend in my prayers.