Ice Bucket Challenge Raises Cold Cash for ALS Research

From individuals to groups of friends to entire companies, people all over Lincoln County have participated in the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness of and research funds for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Yellowfront Grocery co-owner Jeff Pierce accepted the ice bucket challenge to raise funds for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) research when employees Allison Higgins, left, and Harley Harjula, right, dowsed their boss outside the Damariscotta store Aug. 13. (Tim Badgley photo)

The challenge would be a hard one to miss given its immense exposure in online social media, television, newspapers and just plain seeing it happen in your own neighborhood.

People are dumping buckets of ice water over their heads and challenging others or calling them out to do the same within 24 hours or pay the penalty of making a donation to the ALS Association.

Except it hasn’t quite worked out that way. It’s worked out better.

People getting soaked with ice water are also making donations. They are doing both – getting soaked and giving to a worthwhile cause.

It wasn’t that difficult to find residents of Lincoln County answering the challenge who have called out others to join in what has become a fun summertime stunt.

Yellowfront Grocery, Damariscotta

Jeff Pierce, co-owner of the Yellowfront Grocery in Damariscotta, was challenged by his friend Jo-Ann Neal.

Two ice bucket toting Yellowfront employees, Allison Higgins, of Damariscotta, and Harley Harjula, of Boothbay, accompanied Pierce to the store’s loading dock Aug. 13 where they did what their boss told them to do: dump the bucket over his head.

Neither employee seemed to mind soaking down their employer.

“This has been a lot of fun,” Higgins said. “And it’s for a good cause.”

Pierce called out his buddies Will and August Avantaggio and Wayne Waterman to also accept the challenge.

“We’ll be contributing $100 to the ALS Association to raise awareness about the disease,” Pierce said.

Moody’s Diner, Waldoboro

More than 20 Moody’s Diner employees join the ice bucket challenge to raise funds for ALS research Aug. 18 in Waldoboro. (Tim Badgley photo)

A long-time employee of Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, Jill Nutter’s life has been touched in a very personal and difficult way by ALS. When she was 10 years old, her mother died of the disease.

“I had been hearing about the ALS ice bucket challenge and we were talking about it in the kitchen,” Nutter said.

It’s there the idea was hatched to have as many diner employees as possible take the challenge.

Co-owners Dan Beck, who serves as general manager, and Mary Olson, who runs the gift shop, encouraged any employee who was willing to accept the challenge to donate $10 apiece to the ALS Association.

Beck joined 21 of his employees as each of them raised their own ice bucket and doused themselves on his count of three.

“It was a wonderful team effort,” Nutter said. “We raised at least $220!”

King Eider’s Pub and Hagar Enterprises, Damariscotta

More than 30 employees of King Eider’s Pub and Hagar Enterprises join the ALS ice bucket challenge Aug. 19 in Damariscotta flanked by pub partner-owners Jed Weiss, far left and Todd Mauer, who artfully dodged the downpour from two of Hagar’s front end loaders. (Tim Badgley photo)

King Eider’s Pub partner-owner Todd Maurer accepted the challenge from an unidentified family member. Maurer invited his fellow partner-owners along with the employees of Hagar Enterprises to join him. Hagar agreed to provide two front end loaders with their buckets filled with water.

Maurer said he arranged with the Damariscotta Police Department to block the street in front of his pub at 8 a.m. Aug. 19 while the front end loaders trundled to a stop in preparation of drenching more than 30 people.

Maurer was careful to stand in the front row where he quickly and gracefully stepped out of way as sheets of water spilled out of the two buckets. His artful dodging did not go unnoticed.

King Eider’s Pub partner-owner Sarah Maurer said it was her husband Todd’s idea to get the front loaders instead of using five gallon buckets. However, some of the buckets were put to use by pub employees who gave Todd a thorough soaking before they dispersed and cleared the street.

Sarah said the pub has called out Colby & Gale, Mary Kate Reny and the Waltz Soda Fountain employees, and Randy Miller and his crew at Newcastle Chrysler.

Todd said he decided to ignore the 24-hour part of the challenge and instead posted it on the pub’s Facebook page Aug. 13.

Sarah said the added time for publicity garnered donations that were mailed to the pub.

“We’ve received approximately $2,000 in donations already,” Sarah said. “We all had fun.”

Two Bridges Regional Jail

A front-end loader dumps ice and ice-cold water over staff members at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset Friday, Aug. 15. (Photo courtesy Mary Sue Weeks)

The staff of Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset raised $220 Aug. 15 for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The staff members took it upon themselves to honor Henry “Hank” Rebann, a friend and former food director at the facility who died Aug. 5, 2012 after a long battle with ALS.

It was not just a bucket of ice at Two Bridges that was tossed over the heads of Correctional Administrator Col. Mark Westrum and his staff; it was a front-end loader full of ice and water.

Jack Shaw, of Woolwich’s Shaw & Sons, donated his front-end loader for the occasion. Ice was shoveled into the front-end loader. Wiscasset Water District staff attached a large hose to a fire hydrant and filled the loader with water, then Shaw lifted the loader and dumped a huge amount of ice and water over about 20 staff members.

Those participating in the challenge included Westrum, James Bailey and his daughter, Jasmine Bailey; Paul Rubashkin, Aaron Smith, William Owen, Kyle Canada, Kevin Moore, Naomi Bonang, Mary Sue Weeks, Anne Marie Griffin, Robin Ford, Levon Travis, and Diane Hammond.

The jail has challenged all jails and sheriffs in the state to take the ALS ice bucket challenge. So far only Kennebec County has taken on the challenge.

ALS Association

The latest press release on their website http://www.alsa.org reported donations topping out at $22.9 million to their coffers.

The ALS Association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS and their families to live as full and normal a life as possible and to fund research focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease.

ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord which leads to loss of muscle control and movement and eventual total paralysis. The disease is progressively degenerative. There is no known cure.

ALS most often affects adults between the ages of 40 and 75 and is 20 percent more common in men than in women. Half of all people affected with ALS live at least three or more years following diagnosis. Twenty percent live five years or more and up to 10 percent live more than 10 years. Less than 10 percent of all cases are due to genetic inheritance.

“We want to be the best stewards of this incredible influx of support,” Barbara Newhouse, president and CEO of The ALS Association, said. “To do that, we need to be strategic in our decision making as to how the funds will be spent so that when people look back on this event in 10 and 20 years, the Ice Bucket Challenge will be seen as a real game-changer for ALS.”