[Chris_506]

So what is everyones thought on this?


I found this statistic to be a little sobering

[Shipkiller]

While I agree with this, I do not take much stock in the data. At the bottom the source says CDC (2011), but at the top they state newer dates. This leads me to question the data.

[squishy]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

While I agree with this, I do not take much stock in the data. At the bottom the source says CDC (2011), but at the top they state newer dates. This leads me to question the data.

X2. Were the data to be indisputably accurate, this would just be a stereotypical case of American culture blanketing issues. Not suprised.

[P1]

The more money is raised, the higher awareness is, the more research than can be done, resulting in lower deaths. So a successful campaign should have a very large circle on the left and a small circle on the right. Obviously, we'd need to see data over a span of several years. This single slide does not mean much.

[David70]

To me it looks like the dollar amounts on the left are for individual promotions not the total raised for the disease and if so, coming up with a great promotion looks to do a better job of raising money than telling people about death statistics. There are also a lot of reasons that get people to do a popular promotion other than looking at the death statistics. I have done Race for the Cure running races but where the money was going wasn't the main reason for the doing the event.

I also think people raise money for a disease partly for how they personally have been affected not by looking up death statistics (ie - mother gets breast cancer, whether cured or not I might have great interest in raising money). i don't have the same fear of Heart Disease as I feel I have more control of handling it.

[UncleWede]

I asked everyone who has "challenged" me why they didn't simply donate a few bucks to my JDRF walk. My head is still warm. . . None of them know anyone who has/had ALS, yet I struggle daily with my diabetes.

[rcleno]

While ALS may seem like a rare condition that many people do not know about it is a very devastating condition. My mom was diagnosed with ALS just over a year ago. It is depressing news hearing that you will die in two years because no one has lived long enough to study possible cures and drugs.My mom has done much better than expected due to some experimental treatments and drugs. Our whole family appreciates every effort and dollar put towards this cause. If you feel uncomfortable donating to a society that may or may not use your money for research there are personalized donation channels such as the one for my mom. http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fun...s-dueck/222229

[BenTrovato]

I don't have an issue with people pouring ice water over their heads to raise awareness for ALS. Good on whoever came up with the idea. People love the idea of donating for a good cause and promoting themselves at the same time, it was a brilliant concept.

The sad part is when they talk about how they raised 13.7 million so far versus 2.5 during the same period last year and everyone gets all excited of what good they created. If ALS research actually received 13.7 million then that's a win-win but these awareness campaigns get such a small percentage of the total donation that if people really cared about curing the disease they would do something about that instead of pouring water of their head and calling it a day.