#did our crappy society drive you to do this drastic a thing purely to raise money or awareness for a thing??

[jimkirkachu]

So... in 90-something-degree (F) weather with a hundred-something-degree heat index, there's a group of about 15 people Running. from, like... point A to point B all the way across town to raise money for X/Y/Z charity. (Led by a slow-moving ambulance which is ostensibly there as an escort but which I REALLY hope is equipped to help in case any of the runners pass out from heat stroke, sun stroke, exhaustion, dehydration, etc.)

Yet all I can think as they pass by is, "Why in the world is This the way we humans raise money for charities??" These people are out RUNNING in one of the most lethal heat waves in recorded human history?? And that's really the best way to get other people to either contribute to a cause or become aware of a cause??

(I mean, mad respect to these folks for Caring that much about something. And yes, I do know about crowdfunding. And I think it's great, although I hate that it's gotten to be—in the US, anyway—essentially an emergency support-network substitute for health insurance/social security for so many people because our healthcare system is so f***ed up, but I digress.)

I just... *keysmash* I'm a cynic through and through, I consider myself to be professionally depressed—but even I refuse to believe that a dozen people putting their health and possibly their lives on the scorching pavement like this is truly the most efficient means of fundraising or spreading awareness for a charity, because honestly... how broken is our society that this is what charitable organizations have come to? It just seems like utter brutality to me.

(Disclaimer: I fully understand that I could be 100% wrong. I don't lead or work for a 501(c)3, I'm not an athlete, and I'm definitely not a runner, so maybe these folks actually derive some kind of enjoyment out of these charity runs. 🤷 But... in this kind of heat?? I don't buy it.)

Isn't there some way to fundraise for Good Causes that would be actually conscientious toward all parties involved? Like... I don't know. Have people pledge 50 cents for every piece of litter you pick up on a charity walk, and all the walkers go through a different neighborhood in town, and on their own time, when it's not dangerous to their health or safety to do so (aka not exerting their bodies to the maximum capacity at high noon on a sunny over-100-degree day). Or raise five dollars for every row of soil you till or seed in a community garden or something.

No clue what my point is here, but having a gaggle of already toxically-thinspo-looking people try to jog down the road on one of the hottest days of the year while sweating out what I can only imagine is every possible nutrient left in their bodies just doesn't feel like "the answer." 🤔