Just in case you’ve been away from the Internet for the past couple of weeks, there’s been a thing going on called “The Ice Bucket Challenge.” It’s a full on viral craze that has spawned thousands of videos of people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads. Similar to the “Harlem Shake” craze last year, everyone is getting involved including businesses and celebrities. Unlike the “Harlem Shake,” this craze benefits a really good cause: finding a cure for ALS.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a fatal condition that kills the motor neurons that tell the muscles in our bodies to move. When muscles lose those messages from the motor neurons, they eventually waste away, according to the ALS Association.
The Ice Bucket Challenge dares people to either donate $100 to the ALS Association or dump a bucket of ice water on their heads. What the dare has spawned is a lot of people doing both instead and in a big way. Countless videos have been made for the challenge but more importantly the ALS Association has seen an unprecedented amount of donations coming in as of late. The association announced today that it had received $15.6 million in donations from July 29 to August 18, roughly the amount of time the challenge has been going on. That’s compared to $1.8 million in donations during the same period last year.
