THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

One nonprofit’s campaign has taken over the Internet, and if you’re on social media, chances are you’ve witnessed the phenomenon that is the Ice Bucket Challenge. This Trending News Monday, we’re highlighting some of the aspects of the campaign raising awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, that are lesser known as well as some of the well known public figures who’ve completed the #ALSIceBucketChallenege.

The Rules

When tagged to take the Ice Bucket Challenge, the person has two options: dump a bucket of ice water (or cold water) over his/her head within 24 hours of being tagged, film it and upload it to social media and nominate others (typically three people) to complete the challenge OR donate $100 to any ALS association.

The Campaign to Date

The Ice Bucket Challenge isn’t exactly as “wasteful” as this meme points out (but it does show a perspective that most people from the first world overlook). The fact of the matter is that the videos aren’t cop-outs for donations. They’re a chance to get the message out there and get more people directly involved in striking out ALS by calling close, personal relations to action. Since July 29, ALS donations have exceeded $13 million (compared to last year’s $1.7 million in the same time period) thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge grassroots efforts. While the rules state that it’s either dump a bucket of ice water on your head or donate $100, some people (like Bill Gates) have opted to do both. And, at the end of the day, more people are aware of ALS and are talking about the disease (hence this blog post).

According to the New York Times, “People have shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and Aug. 13 and mentioned the phenomenon more than 2.2 million times on Twitter since July 29, according to those sites.”

When looking at the numbers, this campaign doesn’t seem too wasteful, but I suppose people can get creative and use cold lake water.

How It Started

Pete Frates, a former NCAA Division I baseball player, and his friend Pat Quinn both suffer from ALS. After throwing the idea of the challenge together, Frates, whose ALS has progressed to full paralysis and has to use eye reading technology to communicate, took to Facebook to kick off the challenge. While Frates didn’t get the ice bucket dumped on his head in his initial video, he did complete the challenge.

For more on Frates, click here.

Notable Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge, with the help of social media, has spread quickly and vastly. Celebrities and public figures have joined in (and some have even done it twice) with the masses to complete the challenge. Here’s a short list of some of the most notable celebrities and public figures: