Hold the Ice: How You Can Really Help.

By now, you’ve already seen and heard of the #IceBucketChallenge for ALS. It’s a viral campaign that picked up a lot of steam and there’s no arguing that it’s created a lot of awareness.

I’m all about awareness. I know that in today’s world, something going viral makes a lot of difference.

What I’m against is wasting clean water after the point has already been made.

I’ve been watching conversations, observing different people in my networks and they all have one thing in common: They want to raise awareness. They care about making a difference.

Here’s where the divide happens.

I’ve seen comments, on numerous conversation threads, where people have expressed that they didn’t even know that the #IceBucketChallenge had anything do to with ALS. Although numbers indicate that a lot of people are, in fact, donating money, the water being dumped shouldn’t be necessary.

Out of all the celebrities who took the #IceBucketChallenge, my favorite is Charlie Sheen. Instead of dumping water on his head, he dumped out the $10,000 he’s donating to the ALS Association. “Ice melts – money makes a difference,” he said.

I’ve also seen a lot of people take the challenge by making a donation to different charities, like Charity Water, UNICEF Tap Project, and the Thirst Project.  Do you have another cause that’s near and dear to your heart? If you’re tagged with the #IceBucketChallenge next, hold the ice and just make a donation. I promise it’ll still make an effective difference without wasting clean water.

Oh and in case you need a visual:

Image credit: California Department of Water Resources