The Year of the Viral Nomination

It seems to me that the craze of 2014 has been that of the online nomination. From necknominates (where the only real objective was to see who could down the filthiest looking pint), to the No Make Up Selfie's for Cancer awareness and most recently the ALS/MND Ice Bucket Challenge, people have been quick to get their #donation on.

Of course, doing something silly to raise money for charity is nothing new. It's the foundations on which large scale charitable organistions like Comic Relief are built upon. It doesn't make you a hero, and when the Ice Bucket Challenges first began appearing all over my social media feeds, I was skeptical and prayed no one would drag me into it.
Then I watched a video made by an actual ALS sufferer and my mind started to change.

Anthony Carbajal is 26 and had been diagnosed with ALS. His grandma had it and his mum has it. The disease quite literally deteriorates lives. His video is funny, sad and undeniably eye opening.

Yes, the Ice Bucket Challenge is absolutely ridiculous. In a world where 783 million people do not have access to clean water and 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation it is obscene that so many of us (myself included) can justify simply wasting more than we usually do. But it serves a purpose, in that very first split second when the icey water hits your body, you are paralised. It is a minuscule glimpse into what day to day life feels like when your brain tells your muscles to do something they simply can't.
This time last year, the MNDA had raised barely a fraction of the money raised since the Ice Bucket Challenge took over our lives, which is pretty impressive. It's good to bring light on illness that need money and more extensive research, because who get's to pick which one is more profitable? (After all, and without meaning to sound like an absolute cynic, the pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion dollar one).

It's 2014, if it doesn't have a cure yet, we should be looking into it. In the same way that no man, woman, girl or boy should have to walk 6 miles to collect water that could kill them, and people should not still be dying of starvation.

Not all of us can cure fatal illness or end world hunger, I appreciate that. The greatest talent I can offer the world (besides drinking a bottle of Pinot in 30 seconds and touching my nose with my tongue) is my ability to write (and even then, without spell-check it's questionable as whether this is a 'talent'). So I write this to help try and convince those who are still skeptical, and I text to donate because some things are best left to the experts... No one would benefit from me stepping into a laboratory!

ICED55 ( plus the amount you would like to donate) to 70070 to donate to MNDA.
WATER to donate £3 to 70007 to donate to WaterAid.

Anthony Carabajal's video is here.

-xo