Keep Calm and Kennedy On: Why I will not be participating in this years Ice Bucket Challenge

Last year there was a lot of hype around the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. This challenge consumed our lives, between getting them emailed to us, doing interviews, having golf channel take over our house, and answering the nonstop question of "Are you the Chris Kennedy that started the Ice Bucket Challenge" I mean by the end of September we were pooped. This challenge meant a lot to us! Here's the short version of the progression:

Chris got nominated for an ice bucket challenge in July
Chris took the challenge in a friends back yard and called out 3 people to take the challenge or donate to the ALS Association
Those three friends took the challenge for the ALS Association as well
One of those friends was my cousin Jeanette (her husband is suffering from ALS)
She called out her friends
Who called out their friends
It eventually reached the network of Pat Quinn (another ALS patient in Yonkers, NY, a town over from Jeanette)
His network ran with it as well and then it reached Pete Frates (a Boston College baseball player who got it in even bigger spotlight)
What turned out to be a joke made an international sensation and raised millions of dollars

So this seems great, right? Why wouldn't I want to participate this year? Here is why, first researchers have gone out and outright said that this will never reach the viral outbreak it did last year because, well, it's not new anymore. Did it feel good in those hot hot summer months to dump ice water on your head? YUP! Would I do it every day if it took away an ounce of Anthony's pain? YUP! The reality of it is it did its part it put ALS front and center and now people are talking about it! Before this challenge people would say "your cousin has what??" and I would go into detail about Lou Gehrig and they would know what I was talking about. Now people say "oh ya that disease that kills your muscles that we all dumped ice over our heads for."

The problem with this challenge is the fact that some people turned it into a way to make money for themselves. Who wants to profit from someone else struggles. The Anthony Senerchia Jr. Foundation gives 100% of their proceeds back to people suffering from ALS, where some take their proceeds for their own benefits. The ALS association is putting their proceeds to research, and keeping their organization running, not to buying a house for themselves and their family. I saw myself wondering why people were fighting to be the original ice bucket challenge starter (if that's even what you call it). What was the glory behind it? Did we have any monetary benefit, NOPE! Did it help our careers advance, NOPE! Did we have a good time and put a smile on Anthony's face, YES! If Anthony asked me tomorrow to dump ice over my head so he could laugh, I would do it.

I will not be taking the challenge this year because quite honestly I do not want to see the power struggle over who started it pop up again. I am glad it happened in the first place, and words cannot describe the outcome that came from it and how unbelievable that was! I will gladly make a donation to the ASJ Foundation and my local ALS Chapter because that is important to helping others with the disease find some comfort and relief. I love my cousin dearly and am so happy to have been apart of something that will no doubt be the largest viral fundraiser in history. Last summer it was all about gaining awareness, this summer should be about maintaining your donations and keeping that awareness alive. Why does it need to be with an ice bucket? Are we in a society where we can only keep talking about something by drawing attention to ourselves, instead of silently giving a donation and helping others understand while we are out and about why this is so important? Think about this before you pick up the bucket, maybe just take a click on the computer and give a donation : )

Anthony Senerchia Jr. Foundation
ALS Association
Taking Ice for Ant Senerchia Jr. Youtube