Lou Gehrig and ALSA Ice Bucket Challenge...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

So, a lot of you have probably seen on the news (or on your Facebook and Twitter feeds) that they're a multitude of people dousing themselves with ice water in order to raise awareness and money for the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. For us baseball nuts, the bug is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Plenty of my friends (and millions of strangers) have taken the plunge and have donated tons, and well, I wanted to contribute too.

In a few days (I'm shooting for Thursday), I will be auctioning off a 5" x 7" color study of Lou Gehrig on eBay, with 100% of proceeds going to the ALS Association.

The image I'll be creating is based on the shot below (without the signature, that is):



Anywho, if any of y'all are interested, I'll be posting some in-progress photos on this thread throughout the day tomorrow, and then a link to the auction once it goes live.

If you'd like to learn more about ALS and those it affects, be sure to check out their website:

http://www.alsa.org/

Thanks for reading, and an extra 'thank you' to Leon for letting me post this.

Graig

[Stonepony]

Thanks Greg, that's great!!

[Stonepony]

Meant Craig!

[veleno45]

Can't wait to see it Graig. Keep us posted.

[39special]

That's a great cause Graig.Good luck!!

[gregr2]

Awesome! My wife's uncle died from ALS a couple of years ago. It is a horrible disease and it was hard to watch. Thanks for helping.

[iwantitiwinit]

I'll be on the lookout for it. This is a great cause. One of my best pals succumbed to ALS 2 years ago. A very difficult thing to watch, really heartbreaking.

[GehrigFan]

Thank you Graig! I have had myasthenia gravis since 2007, a neuromuscular, auto-immune disease related to ALS and under the same MDA umbrella. Although mine is largely contained at the moment by hardcore meds (it's the meds that kill you more often then the disease), I have a heavy heart for those going through any related diseases. My username on here is a tribute to Lou as I think he was the athlete most worthy in the world of being called a hero for the poise and grace he went through while enduring such a horrific disease in the prime of his life.

Some people have bashed the ALS Bucket Challenge, thinking it just has people dumping water and no one giving, but so far, the funds raised by ALS during the challenge are over $5.5M, compared to $50K the same time last year, so it is working!

I love your idea and thank you for doing this. I don't have the funds to buy one of your fantastic works of art, but I will be watching closely and hopefully helping getting the bidding started at least!

Where will you be posting the auction once it is live?

Mark Anderson

[HalChaseCollector]

Wow great idea! I hope this goes for lots of $$$

[Al C.risafulli]

Awesome, Graig. Thanks for doing such a cool thing and donating your talent.

-Al

[the 'stache]

Graig, this is a great idea, and I commend you for contributing your time and your talent to such a worthy cause.

Though I've certainly heard of ALS, and I'm familiar with both Lou Gehrig's story, and that of my favorite astrophysicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, I must admit. I didn't know ALS was so common. I'd seen Ryan Braun and Donald Driver doing these ice bucket challenges, and wondered what they were all about. Now I know. Education is definitely needed.

[Jay Wolt]

Graig, very generous, hope it goes for a fortune
Would love to see this disease get eliminated

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Graig, very generous, hope it goes for a fortune

Would love to see this disease get eliminated

+1

[smtjoy]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Graig, very generous, hope it goes for a fortune
Would love to see this disease get eliminated

Agree 100%

[GKreindler]

Thank you for all of the support, everybody.

I, too, had a god family friend succumb to and eventually pass away from the disease about a decade ago. Watching her decline was absolutely heartbreaking on every level.

Hopefully this thing goes well and adds to the millions that have been donated thus far via the Ice Bucket Challenge. It may only be a little, but I gotta imagine that every single amount counts.

Here's an in-progress shot from this morning:



I'm hoping to finish it tonight or tomorrow, and the auction will follow soon after. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated with all of the info.

Thanks again,

Graig

[atx840]

This is awesome Graig. I did the challenge yesterday, such a great cause!

[GKreindler]

Thanks, Chris!!

Here's an almost finished product...



The eBay auction will probably go live tomorrow night at around 9 or 10pm EST. I'll be sure to post a link here.

Thanks, everyone!

Graig

[Enfuego]

Please keep us posted...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

Alright, I got impatient - auction is now live.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=121415964215

Thanks again, all.

Graig

[Joe_G.]

Looks fantastic, strong right out of the gate. Best of Luck!

[Iron Horse]

Beautiful work. Hope it goes for $$$$
Thank you for sharing

[freakhappy]

Awesome! What you are doing says a lot about what you stand for and who you are. You are right...every little bit counts!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[drazz5]

wow wish i could afford it. Beautiful painting!

[GKreindler]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to mention that the auction for the Lou Gehrig color study to benefit the ALS Association has less than nine hours left to it.

I had tried to add some information to the auction today, but like an idiot, I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to do so with less than 12 hours left. Argh. So, I thought I'd at least provide that here.

The new photo I added to the auction a few days back is what I got back from my photographers, so it's a lot clearer and sharper.



I also scanned the back, which I signed, as well as included a quote from Sam Jones, which I thought pretty much summed it up: "Lou was the kind of boy that if you had a son, he's the kind of person you'd like your son to be." A truly lovely sentiment, in my opinion.



Anywho, thank you so much for even considering bidding on the auction (not to mention sharing with your friends) for such a great cause. I certainly appreciate it more than I can express, and so does the ALSA and those stricken by the horrible bug.

Thanks for reading and participating!

Graig