Honoring His Grandfather, J.J. Abrams Nominates 501st Legion To ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams is the latest celebrity to complete the ALS ice bucket challenge, and after being nominated by Steven Spielberg, he has passed the gauntlet to some of the franchise’s biggest fans, the 501st legion.
Spielberg nominated Abrams, George Lucas, and Jeffrey Katzenberg for the challenge, according to Deadline, but it took the current director helming the Star Wars films to pass the mandate to the movies’ most vehement fanbase. The 501st legion, as The Inquisitr has previously reported, are an international charitable organization who rank amongst the most dedicated Star Wars fans and the most adept cosplayers to display their appreciation of the films.
In a video that quickly made its way to the 501st’s Facebook page, Abrams revealed that his grandfather suffered from ALS, alternately known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. J.J. Abrams not only was doused with frigid water while standing upon a balcony, but also pledged to make a donation to the fight against ALS in the name of his grandfather, Samuel Abrams. J.J. nominated the 501st, whom he referred to as “big hearted, generous, and awesome,” to succeed him in the challenge, as well as his “old and dear friend Greg Rumbard,” and horror author Steven King. Three buckets of water later, Abrams completed the ice bucket challenge, leaving his nominees to pick up where he left off.
Today’s #501stPicOfTheDay comes to us from @Sky59650 pic.twitter.com/0MWXHkLFy6
— 501st Legion (@501stLegion) August 18, 2014
There is little anyone could do to spread the ALS ice bucket challenge further than to pass it along to the 501st legion. Taking the moniker “Vader’s Fist,” the 501st is an organization that drives just as much effort into their charitable activities as they do their costuming, which is second to none amongst Star Wars fans. Dressing in screen-correct outfits, often as stormtroopers, the members of the 501st Legion have managed to expand the charitable reach of the Star Wars franchise to seemingly every corner of the globe.
As The Inquisitr previously detailed, a young girl who was bullied for her love of Star Wars found herself defended by the 501st, who gifted her an amazingly accurate set of stormtrooper armor. In a selfless act that showed maturity far beyond her years, Katie Goldman, the littlest Jedi, passed her armor along to another girl, Allison, who had also been the victim of bullying for her love of Star Wars.
‘Littlest Jedi’ Passes Her Stormtrooper Armor To Another Bullied Girl – pic.twitter.com/AejtkQlpdP
— Gossips RTNews (@GossipsRTNews) July 7, 2014
May the Force be with The 501st Legion, who have 24 hours to honor J.J. Abrams challenge.
[Image via Veooz]
