Donate, or freeze? Millions of people have contemplated those two choices over the last few months, following nomination into the popular philanthropy effort known as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Sprenger Construction President Mike Sprenger (Right) helps his crew push up a wall on a construction site. He said he saw the opportunity to make his crew laugh and brighten the mood on his job site.
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, though the condition is more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The disease is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that attacks nerve cells, and usually within the span of two to five years the patient will experience total loss of motor control, and eventually death.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is similar to other charity efforts such as the “Cold Water Challenge,” to support cancer research and the “Polar Plunge,” used as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral in July, when a number of T.V. personalities completed it via broadcast.
After being nominated by a friend, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge nominees choose to donate to organizations fighting ALS, film themselves being doused by a flume of frigid ice water, or do both. If the latter is chosen, the drenched contender must complete the challenge and nominate friends via social media to either donate, or endure a similar arctic shower on film within 24 hours.
Many members of the University of Idaho community have hopped on board the campaign. Dean of Students Bruce Pitman, President Staben, ASUI President Nate Fisher and First Lady Mary Beth Staben are among the many who have drenched themselves in ice.
Additionally, countless UI students, faculty and staff have joined the ranks of the millions of people that have taken the challenge.
In the past month alone, ALSA has exceeded $100 million in donations.
As of August 29, ALSA reports on their website that they have received $100.9 million from over 3 million donors since July 29.
In comparison to July’s numbers from last year, ALSA garnered $2.8 million from donors, which equates to a 3,500 percent increase in donations for 2014.
“The word gratitude doesn’t do enough to express what we are feeling right now,” said Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of ALSA in a statement. “We recognize a profound sense of urgency and are engaged in discussions about how we’re going to put this money to work in the short term and into the future.”
According to the ALSA website, the funds are to go toward research to develop treatments and a cure for the condition, awareness and educational campaigns, as well as to support a nationwide network of chapters that provide services to ALS patients and their families.
Charity Navigator, a reputable charity watchdog website, rated ALSA four out of four stars on financial performance, transparency and accountability. The website also reports that 73 percent of ALSA finances go toward programs and services it delivers, 17.8 percent is spent on fundraising expenses, and only 9 percent is spent on administrative expenses.
Living with ALS
Despite his disheartening prognosis, it’s business as usual for the President of Sprenger Construction Inc. Mike Sprenger.
Sprenger was diagnosed with ALS on Feb. 16, 2011. Three years later, he’s still running the business his grandfather started in the early 1950s.
“It hasn’t stopped me, I still run my company,” Sprenger said. “Wherever I can go with this wheelchair, use my brain, coordinate, organize, and make sure the job follows the right steps, it keeps me going.”
Sprenger Construction works with many different businesses within and around the Moscow community, such as Sodexo at University of Idaho, Gritman Medical Center and Moscow Family Medicine. Sprenger said he tries to make it to job sites as much as he can — citing the constant movement of working with his company as his primary source of therapy.
Sprenger said a constant flow of support and motivation comes from his family.
“I have three wonderful kids, and I want to be Dad as long as I can,” Sprenger said. “I have an amazing support group with my friends and family. Other people I see that have ALS that don’t have the support group, I see them go downhill faster because they give up. You can’t give up.”
On September 3, the sun illuminates his office, and Sprenger trains longtime family friend Marie Kleffner to assist him with paperwork and other office tasks.
Sprenger is confined to his wheelchair and is severely paralyzed, and says he has little motor function left in his arms and hands. In talking to Kleffner about orders of business, he frequently uses his head to gesture to certain objects around the office.
“There’s two ways to look at this, either let the disease take over you, or do what I do,” Sprenger said. “Keep positive, keep working, keep living life as best you can.”
Sprenger said more than 100 people have completed the Ice Bucket challenge in his honor. He said people as far as Texas, California, Minnesota and Southern Idaho have called him out during their effort in completing the challenge.
Sprenger said that while there are some who complete the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in a way that brings more attention to them than to ALS awareness, he said “99.9 percent of those participating are doing it right, and learning more about ALS than they had previously known.”
Ice bucket challenge alterations
UI Junior Kyle DeHart was an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge nominee who seized the opportunity to bring awareness to another condition besides ALS: Bipolar Disorder.
“When nominated for the challenge, I really didn’t want to do it,” DeHart said. “So instead of having ice water poured on myself I decided to donate to a cause that is near and dear to me.”
Dehart, in lieu of the usual ALS donation, decided to take the opportunity to talk about his experience with bipolar disorder and bring awareness to the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting research to identify the source of early-onset bipolar disorder.
“Through just the few years since my diagnosis I have experienced a lot that I would not wish on anybody, and I cannot imagine how painful it must be for a child,” DeHart said. “I’m nots saying raising money for ALS isn’t important. I applaud every single person who has donated.”
Natalie Magnus, a volunteer coordinator for the Center for Volunteerism and Social Action, also decided a “switch up” was in order if she were nominated.
“I knew before ever being challenged I wouldn’t do it the traditional way of dumping a bucket of ice water on your head,” Magnus said.
Magnus said she did not favor the idea of wasting clean water, and that many share her concern of water conservation in a time where parts of the U.S. are experiencing record-breaking droughts and clean water isn’t easily available in developing areas of the world. An article published on Aug. 18 in The Long Beach Post estimated that 6 million gallons of water had been poured over people’s heads nationwide since the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral.
UI Alumni Tyler Tennison participated in an Alternative Service Break trip to Romania during winter intermission of last year, and said after seeing how limited water was to the residents of a small, rural village there, he decided he would be more conservative with water usage on a daily basis, including his involvement in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
“I believe in donating money and spreading awareness when it comes to many types of causes, but I don’t feel it is necessary to waste a valued natural resource when doing so,” Tennison said. “I know that the cold water is supposed to make a person momentarily experience what those (with) ALS are feeling every day, but why can’t we all just donate money to research without having to pour perfectly clean water on us?”
Magnus also saw being nominated for the challenge as an opportunity to “create awareness not only about ALS but other organizations and issues around the world.” In addition to her donation to ALSA, Magnus said she donated to the Edhi Foundation — which provides social welfare services in Pakistan — and a global water conservation group known as International Rivers.
“It had nothing to do with having negative feelings toward the challenge, the movement, or the foundation,” Magnus said. “I think it’s beautiful when you see people, especially of a younger age, willing to donate some money toward something good.”
George Wood can be reached at [email protected]