#alsicebucket

ABOUT THE ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

i.         The Ice Bucket Challenge is a campaign to promote awareness of ALS.

ii.         A person is filmed as a bucket of water and ice is dumped over the individual’s head. The individual then nominates a minimum of three people to do the same thing, having only a 24-hour time frame to complete the challenge and make a donation to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association.

A.    WHERE DID IT BEGIN

i.         It went viral in July and August 2014, using social media as a platform to reach a worldwide audience

ii.          The challenge first received media attention after professional golfer Greg Norman nominated news anchor Matt Lauer in July 2014 on NBC’s Today. This sparked a trend that led millions of people to post videos on social media to raise awareness of ALS.

B.    HOW MUCH HAS BEEN RAISED

i.         The Ice Bucket Challenge raised more than $115 million for the ALS Association. A chart from the ALS Association shows that $77 million, or 67%, of the funds were designated to research and another $23 million, or 20%, were given to patient and community services.

ii.         More than $220 million was donated to ALS charities worldwide.