5 Comments

  1. Mary Jane Sesek
    August 22, 2014 @ 10:27 am

    Mark, I agree with you 100% on all 8 of your points, especially number 6 about Ferguson. The first time I saw the ice water dumped over the head I said- that is a heart attack waiting to happen!
    I did not know that many kids get cancer and wish I could donate but two of my friends’ sons are on life support out in California and need cash for expenses like getting to the hospitals.
    As you said sometimes other more pressing needs have to be filled.

    Reply

  2. Tony Martin
    August 22, 2014 @ 11:00 am

    Nicely done, Mark. My kind of rant (logical, to the point, relevant, and just the tiniest bit of “piss off, I’ll do good things, but in my own way”). If I get tagged by this, I’ll just point them here 🙂

    Reply

  3. katherine clark
    August 22, 2014 @ 12:30 pm

    I appreciate all your points. I still don’t quite get it: I think one of the points of the exercise is that it gets people talking, thinking, and reading about ALS which is ignored because it happens so rarely. I hate that in our country we fund cancer and AIDS research. I just learned again today that that Ebola virus that may have saved the lives of 2 Americans is gone now. IN our country, we don’t fund drug research and drug companies tend to research those diseases that will repay them for the research. This model needs to change. So, if you have ALS, or know someone who has it, what can you do? Just die? So the fact that so much money has been raised and so much time has been spent on this topic is a good thing.

    I could respond to each one of your comments–the calling out, for example, is simply a way to expand the circle, and hey, it worked–but I won’t. I love that you are giving money to the cancer society. I think that is great. Someone from the APL yesterday gave a small donation to ALS and a larger one to APL. I think that is perfect.

    I want to live in a world where research gets funded and people help each other, but that often doesn’t happen. I think we should celebrate kindness.

    Reply

    • mark.w.schumann
      August 22, 2014 @ 12:59 pm

      I think we should celebrate kindness.

      That’s why I wanted to reinforce the “YAY DR!” part of this. The ice bucket thing isn’t my favorite kind thing, but at least it’s kind!

      Reply

  4. Jon Bettinger
    August 24, 2014 @ 5:54 pm

    This is totally out of character for me, but I’ve really been bothered by this post. Ironically, I’m pretty sure I only know you from your charity work, and it would be a shame if the other volunteers at GCC came with the attitude of your first point. You may not know anyone touched by this horrible disease that mostly attacks the fathers of young families, but you do, in fact, at least casually know people who have lost family to ALS. You have a medical condition that precludes your participation? Totally understandable. Money is tight? No problem. But you seem to be advocating that others shouldn’t be helping people in real need because their disease is too rare and the fundraiser is too gimicky. Not cool.

    Reply

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