Recently, a wave of videos have been circulating online of people pouring ice water on themselves and then challenging others to do the same, to donate or both. From July 29 to August 20, the ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) association was able to raise more than $31 million, which is more than it raised in a whole year in 2012. Did the ALS ice bucket challenge change fundraising forever? The reactions to it are mixed and while some happily took on the challenge, others criticised it and said that it is wrong to raise awareness at the cost of wasting water. It may not be the traditional way of fundraising for a cause, but it definitely did highlight the existence of the illness. Others decided to give a twist to the challenge by donating rice to the needy and highlighting the numbers of lives lost around the world.
The focus of this week’s debate is on the latest trend – the ALS ice bucket challenge – and the changes that it brought not only to traditional fundraising, but also to ourselves.
These are the statements to be debated:
• The ALS ice bucket challenge has forever changed traditional fundraising methods.
• The challenge raised public awareness on the importance of saving water, more than the actual disease.
• Without social media, especially Facebook, it would have been impossible for the ice bucket challenge to achieve the same level of success.
Participants will be required to clearly state whether they are ‘for’ or ‘against’ the statement and provide their supporting arguments for the same.
If you would like to participate, send us a request at readers@gulfnews.com
