I have been dubious of the whole ALS ice bucket challenge and this is why:
Two-time Grammy award winning rapper and a founding member of the Fugees, Pras Michel, gets doused by his friends for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014 in Pyongyang, North Korea. [TIME Magazine]On Friday morning, the ALS Association announced that donations related to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had surpassed $100 million in only a month. To put that number into perspective, that is a 3,500 percent increase from the $2.8 million that the ALS Association raised during the same time period last year. More than 3 million people have donated, the association says.
From a marketing standpoint, the ice bucket challenge is pure genius. The marketing campaign has eclipsed everything else in the charitable fundraising industry, according to experts. It’s fun to do, fun to watch and easy to nominate someone else to participate.
But critics are now saying only a fraction of the money raised is actually going toward ALS research.
According to charitable watchdog groups like the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), over 73 percent of all donations raised are going to fundraising, overhead, executive salaries, and external donations. The ECFA won’t deem a nonprofit as a reliable charity unless at least 80 percent of donations make it to their intended projects.
Other charitable watchdogs are citing a pie chart on the ALS Association’s own website that breaks down how it spends the money it receives. According to the chart, 28 percent is spent on research. [The MIssourian]
The ice bucket challenge has been so pervasive that as the above picture shows it has even been done in North Korea. By the way for those who are interested in giving to a charity I highly recommend the Fisher House Foundation which Charity Navigator has listed as putting 94.7% of their donations towards their programs. You can go to just about any major military base and see the impact of a Fisher House.
I have been waiting for some time to pass before posting about this, but felt a month after his death was an appropriate time to remember Kalani. Many ROK Drop readers may remember Kalani as a guest contributor on this site that provided great historical postings about Kunsan and Osan Air Force Bases. Kalani also maintained his fantastic site Kanaka in Korea that is filled with great Korea related information. Much of the information Kalani used for his postings was gathered from talking to both US veterans and Korean business owners over the years. The insights from his interviews along with Kalani’s own personal knowledge from living for many years in Korea always made for interesting reading. Fortunately his daughter plans on keeping the webpage up in memory of her father, which I was glad to hear.
I first met up with Kalani a year and half ago and took a walking tour with him of Songtan. His knowledge of all the changes in Songtan over the years was truly impressive and really caused me to look at Songtan in a different way. I also found him to be a very kind man that loved his wife and daughter very much. Kalani will surely be missed by all who knew him and I wish his family well as they go through this difficult time. Rest in Peace Kalani.
Lieutenant General Russel Honore’ who is the current commander of 1st Army which commands the US Army Reserve and National Guard is now directing the military response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Interestingly enough General Honore’ used to be the division commander for the US 2nd Infantry Division located here in Korea from 2000 – 2002.
Lt. Gen. Russel Honore was directing the deployment of National Guard troops — expected to number 1,000 — from a New Orleans street corner.
Honore said getting food and water to the people at the convention center was a difficult process. “If you ever have 20,000 people come to supper, you know what I’m talking about,” the general said. “If it was easy, it would have been done already.”
CNN’s Barbara Starr, who is traveling with the three-star general, said Honore is “very determined to keep this looking like a humanitarian relief operation.”
“A few moments ago, he stopped a truck full of National Guard troops … and said, ‘Point your weapons down, this is not Iraq,'” Starr reported.
During his time here in the 2ID General Honore’ was known as the Ragin Cajun because he was the type that would explode and expect immediate results. He is also from Louisiana and speaks with a Cajun accent that makes him sometimes hard to understand when he is rajin. His strong personality and Cajun roots make him the perfect person to lead this effort. I would expect results from the National Guard effort very soon now.
