By Kacie Leach
Being recorded while getting a bucket of ice water poured over your body is the latest trend on social media. Although this is a wet source of summer fun, it has a purpose.
The #icebucketchallenge is bombarding social media users’ accounts all over the internet. The challenge raises awareness for the ALS disease. ALS is an abbreviation for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a growing neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain, as well as the spinal cord. This disease leads to death, because the brain loses its ability to control any muscle movement.
After the challenge is completed, the nominee chooses up to six people to take part in the challenge or donate at http://www.alsa.org. Unofficial rules state that the person has 24 hours to take the plunge.
“I feel as if the ice bucket challenge has helped the ALS foundation tremendously by not only bringing awareness to the disease but also by raising money in order to help find a cure,” Tyler Bennett, junior, said.
In the U.S. alone, around 5,600 people are diagnosed with ALS per year. According to the ALS Association until now, not many people knew of this deadly disease.Dozens ofcelebrities like Justin Bieber, Bill Gates, Jennifer Lopez, Oprah, Kate Upton, and even George W. Bush have participated in the ice bucket challenge bringing awareness to the cause with their popularity
The ALS foundation raised 31.5 million dollars on August 20, 2014 compared to last year, in which 1.9 million dollars was raised. Donations are coming in from existing donors, as well as 637,527 new ones.
“It’s really awesome that this trend for ALS is spreading so quickly because it’s helping to raise money for research in hopes of putting an end to the deadly disease,” Vallen Dodrill, junior, said.
This trend is something fun to do in the summer heat, and it is spreading faster than false rumors in high school.
