Love or hate the Ice Bucket Challenge? We can’t deny the social impact. Now, there is the Rice Bucket.
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Either you are sick of hearing about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, or you are still rallying behind the craze. The challenge itself has greatly expanded from gaining donations for the ALS Foundation. The related off shots, spin offs, spoofs, rejections, discussions, arguments, and general social media frenzy surrounded us completely.
The discussion sparked by the challenge is probably one of its greatest unintentional impacts. More awareness has been brought to the condition of ALS. Yet way beyond ALS awareness is the broad social analysis the challenge sparked. The tweets and comments touched on the social complexities of charities and the funds they generate, the ethical practices of the charities and foundations, the need for awareness, and the evaluation of priorities in the social concerns we focus on. Other commentary redirected to the individuals, and personal reflection on ego and narcissism. In the culture of selfies ego often comes into the discussion, especially in the torrent of a craze which highlights the individual contributing, or in some cases not contributing, to the charity. All the spin offs and challenges to the challenge itself got me confused. Then…
India’s spin off stood out from all the conflicting ideas about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
The Rice Bucket Challenge.
The idea was inspired by the ice buckets but takes a very different approach. The challenge is quite simple:
- get a bucket/bowl
- fill the bucket/bowl with rice
- give the bucket/bowl to someone who is in need
- take a pic and post it with #Ricebucketchallenge (if you want)
You just find, interact with, and directly help someone in need in your community.
“Directly help someone in your community.”
Those words stand out to me, and set the Rice Bucket Challenge at a notch above the rest. Street level social justice acted out from one hand to another.
Imagine a world where direct community charity and help was the norm?
Photo: posted on Facebook by @Rice Bucket Challenge