Back in July we started seeing people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads and promoting others to do the same. The purpose of this challenge was to raise awareness of ALS. The original idea of the challenge was that if you were nominated to participate in the challenge, you were to dump the bucket of ice water on your head and donate 5 dollars to ALS research, or just donate 100 dollars without the bucket. As we can tell, the majority of those nominated took part in the challenge and then nominated several of his or her friends and family that would go through with it too. I feel like every time I refresh my Facebook or Instagram, someone new has posted a video of this selfless act.
What is ALS? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or better known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The motor neurons go from the brain to the spinal cord and then to the muscles. Eventually the motor neurons die and the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is completely done for.
The ALS Association was established in 1985 and is the only nation-wide non-profit organization that is fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease. This association is the leading research facility, has care services, public education, and public policy. Their purpose is to find treatments and eventually a cure for ALS through research. An important part of research is donations, and the way these organizations and research facilities get donations is from the public. The issue with the challenge is that not as many people know of this disease or that it was still circling our society since Lou Gehrig.
So the ALS Association came up with a fun, catchy and selfless way to get people talking about ALS and inform people about their association. Also and more importantly, this was a way to motivate people to make a difference and donate.
These are some employees from Good Morning Britain in the UK participating on live telivision.
In the first 30 days of the Ice Bucket Challenge going viral, the Association reached 100 million dollars in donations. At a support group on August 28, Patricia Stanco, the Regional Care Manager for The ALS Association Florida Chapter told the attendees this incredible number of donations and from the looks in their eyes to tears she was “witnessing hope”. This moment has been happening weekly since the first handful of donators sent it their donations.
While many of you may be wondering how the ALS Association came up with this challenge, you may find it interesting that this challenge originally started in 2013 in the northern United States. The challenge also made its way to Salem, Indiana in early 2014 and then became a tool for National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to raise money. All of these organizations impacted each other because of this challenge and now the ALS Association is all people are talking about.
Even my favorite acress, Jennifer Aniston participated!
Just in the past two months, the ALS Association received 106 million dollars in donations. This is an incredible amount. On their main website the first thing you see is a big thank you section including the hashtag used for this challenge and picture of an ice bucket. Just looking at this page makes me want to take part in the challenge all over again. With all your donations, ALS can find ways for treatment and hopefully an actual cure one day. If you have participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge just remember that you have made a difference. Keep up those nominations and spread the word about ALS.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Bucket_Challenge
http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/20/cheryl-has-taken-on-the-ice-bucket-challen…