FRIGID FUNDRAISING: ALS ice bucket challenges douse Beach
Fort Myers Beach residents and business personnel are joining other Southwest Floridians and the nation for that matter in getting into the chilly spirit of a good cause.
Many island people and beyond have been challenged and accepted the “Ice Bucket Challenge” to raise funds and awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or what is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
One of the more recent challenges occurred at Gulfshore Grill, where roughly 50 people accepted the challenge, doused themselves and called out all other Beach restaurants and bars to step up for ALS. GSG day manager Ray Donovan and wife Leslie Donovan, the night manager, are donating $500 to the ALS Association and are accepting donations to sweeten the pot.
“I was called out by John Thomas, one of my best friends, and a couple of other employees got challenged. We decided to do it all together,” said Ray. “I think this is very important.”
“This was great. It’s definitely spreading awareness from people who had no idea about the disease. Now it’s everywhere,” added GSG manager Roxanne Jakaitis, who also participated.
Gulfshore Grill made their challenge to the Beach establishments officially by placing it on their Facebook page. Charley’s Boathouse Grill was one of the restaurants that took that challenge, donating $650 to the cause after the restaurant gifted $250, the employees chipped in $200 and the restaurant matched with $200 more.
The popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge began on social media channels and has become a phenomenon that continues to sweep the nation. Government officials to media personnel to housewives are taking the challenge and opening up their pocketbooks and wallets to increase a fundraising craze that has exceeded $79.7 million, as of Monday, Aug. 25.
FMB and other County officials that have taken the “plunge” include Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda, Bonita Spring Mayor Ben Nelson, Cape Coral Mayor Marni Sawicki (all three participated together) and Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott. Two members of Cereceda’s Council participated Monday, three employees of Red Coconut also took part as did area musicians A200 (challenging Soapy Tuna) and members of 10,000 Views.
For Cereceda, doing the challenge and donating funds were secondary to the actual attention that the craze is actually bringing to ALS. Father Goggin of the Catholic Church of the Ascension, her former priest and good friend, died from the disease.
“He was such an extraordinary human being. He was a big supporter of the Town in the early days and someone I could always turn to for advice,” said Cereceda.
Cereceda, who donated $100 personally, claims to be not much into fads, but is excited about how much attention the challenge has brought to the disease.
“It gives you an opportunity to educate a little bit,” she said, “and it was actually quite refreshing.”
Cereceda was asked by Sawicki, who was called out by Big Momma of B103.9 Radio Station. Sawicki asked Nelson, Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane and Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson also, but the latter two could not make it.
“There hasn’t been anything I have done so far as the mayor that has caused as much attention as this,” said Cereceda, who challenged Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker and the rest of her Council.
Sheriff Scott was called out by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team on Aug. 18 during their participation.
“After successfully enduring the icy dare, Sheriff Scott threw down the challenge to Chief Fort Myers Police Chief Doug Baker and Cape Coral Police Chief Bart Connelly,” stated LSCO Public Information Officer Tiffany Wood via email last week.
While not everyone has donated financially to the cause, ALS is getting great exposure across the nation. During the same time period last year, the ALS association received $2.5 million. According to ALS reports, more than 1.7 million new donors have joined the Association.
In a national letter about the social media phenomenon, Barbara J. Newhouse, president and CEO of The ALS Association, listed organization priorities from monetary contributions after commenting about the challenges.
“Never before have we been in a better position to fuel our fight against this disease,” she said. “Increased awareness and unprecedented financial support will enable us to think outside the box. We will be able to strategize about efforts in ways that previously would not have been possible, all while we work to fulfill and enhance our existing mission priorities nationwide.”
The priorities involve: 1) Funding groundbreaking research in laboratories across the globe. ALS supports 98 active projects and recently announced $3.5 million in funding for 21 new projects led by the world’s top scientists; 2) Providing vital support and care services through the nationwide network of chapters to people with ALS and their families in the form of support groups, medical equipment, respite grants and more, all while ensuring the highest standards of multi-disciplinary care through our Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence; 3) Empowering ALS advocates to encourage elected officials to support and advance issues important to the ALS community and convening the largest gathering of people with ALS every year in Washington, D.C. to raise awareness of the disease and support government programs designed to help find a treatment and cure for ALS.
Alissa Gutierrez, spokesperson for The ALS Association Florida Chapter, calls the impact of the viral phenomena “multi-faceted” but commented that the sunshine state chapter does not receive any funding from the national organization. She is hoping that people who do take the challenge in the state will designate The ALS Association Florida Chapter as their charity of choice. Go to www.ALSAFL.org to do so.
“We haven’t seen this much attention for ALS since Lou Gehrig was diagnosed in 1939,” said Gutierrez. “The fact that most of America is now talking about the challenge, taking the challenge and donating to an ALS charity is nothing short of incredible. The legacy of these two weeks will change the way we look at fundraising, probably forever.
“Florida has not seen the financial windfall our national organization has experienced. We have made a little more than $50,000 over last year’s amount at the same time. And, don’t get me wrong, we are thrilled to have it. But in real life terms, a custom power wheelchair, which makes the difference between having mobility and lying in a hospital bed all day for our patients, costs between $30,000-$40,000. At the end of the day, we’re hoping that more people will choose to keep the money in Florida by donating to our Chapter.”
About ice bucket challenge
Pete Frates, the former Boston College baseball captain and Beverly native, has emerged as the national spokesman for the fight to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and has been the inspiration behind the national phenomenon known as the Ice Bucket Challenge. Frates has lived with ALS since 2012.
About ALS
The ALS Association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease. In addition, The Association’s public policy efforts empower people to advance public policies in our nation’s Capital that respond to the needs of people with ALS.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. “A” means no or negative. “Myo” refers to muscle, and “Trophic” means nourishment”No muscle nourishment.” When a muscle has no nourishment, it “atrophies” or wastes away. “Lateral” identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region.
As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. When muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurons that they require to function, the muscles begin to atrophy (become smaller). Limbs begin to look “thinner” as muscle tissue atrophies.