A good buddy of mine told me once, “McGuire, charity work is like your M-O!” While it’s true, I do have causes and charities that I believe in, and will usually do just about anything if it means helping someone out, even I don’t always feel like supporting the cause… and I don’t feel bad about it for a second. The thing is, for as many causes I’ve given to, donated time and services to, there are probably just as many or more that I won’t lift a finger for – and that’s okay, because it’s MY choice. Recently, I did the #IceBucketChallenge in support of ALS – a now multi-million dollar global initiative. It was a small donation and the chance to be an idiot… I’m in, and it was fun. I made my nominations, and as I did, they started to continue the chain. One of my nominees didn’t want to do it. I’m totally cool with it. Here’s the thing: I didn’t let him know in advance, and while I like this person and consider them a good person, above everything else, I respect him as a person. He’s a celebrity, but we chat from time to time. After he chose to sit it out, I PM’d him immediately. I didn’t care that he didn’t want to do the challenge or donate – instead, I wanted to make sure I didn’t upset him by nominating him. For all I know, ALS is something he’s dealing with in his family… maybe he has a fear of water… or buckets… or maybe… just maybe… he just didn’t want to do it. After finding out that he wasn’t mad, he was just choosing not to be a part of the social media blitz, I left it at that. I don’t think any less of him, and in fact, I respect him for sticking to his beliefs. Remember, it’s charity, and everybody has their own priorities in life. Be honest: unless it’s in your family, when was the last time you thought anything about ALS before this all started? Now we know more about it, and they’ve raised (pardon the pun) BUCKETS of money… Mission Accomplished.
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