Thursday, August 21, 2014

Cold Water on a Good Cause?


Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.   But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,   so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 
                                                                                                         Jesus of Nazareth Matthew 6

ALS or Lou Gehrig's is a horrible disease which slowly and relentlessly robs the sufferer of strength and motor control until death. The Lou Gehrig name comes from the baseball great who in 1939 announced to a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he had been diagnoses with ALS yet still considered himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth" because of his full life and the tremendous support he had received. That was seventy five years ago and despite Gehrig's profile there is no cure for the disease.

In the past few weeks the profile of ALS and fundraising for research has skyrocketed, thanks to what is called the Ice Bucket Challenge. The two young men who originated this phenomenon of pouring ice-cold water over one's head did so to bring awareness to the paralyzing effect of the disease and did so because of a friend who has ALS. The premise is that a person will douse themselves in icy water and challenge others to do the same. Along the way folk are also invited to make donations to ALS research and some do so in lieu of undergoing the frigid baptism. It has worked. The donations have increased ten-fold during the past few weeks with more than twenty million dollars raised in the States and big increases in Canada as well.

Some "newscasts" are dominated by the challenge and the "who's who of" participants. Among the celebs are folk as diverse as golfer Michelle Wie, Montreal Canadiens star P.K.Subban, Bill Gates, and former U.S. president George W. Bush. Why couldn't Bush have done this before going to war with Iraq? I digress.

Now, I'm all for giving generously to meaningful causes, and this is an important one. At the same time I've felt a bit uneasy about the focus directed to this stunt, and what this says about how we choose to be generous in the 21st century. In our celebrity culture we seem to thunder from one cause or another, because they have caught the public eye or because some famous persons have chosen to participate. But what about the millions of people who give anonymously and conscientiously to worthwhile initiatives and causes, including the work of faith communities?

I have discovered that I am not alone. Yesterday's edition of CBC radio's The Current addressed the effects of high-profile fundraising, as did National Public Radio. Neither discouraged supporting such efforts, but they did ask how long this will last and whether dollars have been diverted from other important work. We have heard in the past the concern of researchers that some forms of cancer such as breast cancer receive a disproportionately high amount of funding while other less "glamorous" forms of cancer struggle for dollars.

I don't want to seem to be throwing cold water on an inventive and heartfelt initiative. ALS research gets a boost, people have fun, giving is encouraged. All good! There is a bigger picture, just the same.

Have you participated in the challenge or made a donation? Do you think this is an inventive way to raise funds? Do you have any concerns?

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/08/20/taking-on-the-als-ice-bucket-challenge/

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