The Myth of Sisyphus

The gods condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour.
Albert Camus claimed, in his philosophical essay, that there is a fundamental conflict between what we want from the universe (whether it be meaning, order, or reasons) and what we find in the universe (formless chaos). This is what he called "The Absurd."  I doubt if these people would consider their endeavours absurd for their activity was all part of a fund raising campaign.