Current Event: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

By Waverly Spratt

Casually scroll through the feed of any social media outlet. Aside from the constant inundation of "selfies" and "Throwback Thursday's", What do you come across? Chances are, you will encounter a video - or several videos - of people dumping buckets of ice water onto their heads. But what is the meaning behind this new fad? Well, just in case you have been living off the grid for the past month, I am happy to inform you that what you are seeing is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: The charitable phenomenon that is taking the world by storm.

Bill Gates partaking in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The premise of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is simple: If someone nominates you, then within 24 hours, you must either dump a bucket of ice water onto your head or donate $100 to the ALS Association (to be used towards ALS research). Then, after you have completed one or both portion(s) of the challenge, you nominate three more people to do the same. At first, this challenge drew a large following of skeptics and critics. There was speculation as to how anything charitable could come out of dumping ice onto yourself, especially when it seems as though more people are opting to take the chillier way out of the challenge.  However, thanks to the popularity of the challenge, the ALS Association has raised a total of $79.9 million so far. This is $77.6 million more than the amount raised at this time last year. The challenge has proved successful due to several factors, such as its rampant presence on social media outlets and the chain reaction of nominating others to take the challenge. The awareness being raised is subsequently raising money, as many people are choosing to donate as well as choosing to get drenched. Plus, the involvement of celebrities (everyone from Bill Gates, pictured above, to Jennifer Lopez) has garnered some big bucks for the ALS Association. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), is a horrendous condition that deeply affects the central nervous system. In the past, ALS Research has been radically underfunded, so this huge spike in donations has been a wonderful feat.

To donate or to learn more about ALS and the work being done to combat it, visit www.alsa.org.   Source: http://time.com/3173833/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising-total/