Loading...Have you been called out yet to take the ALS ice bucket challenge? It’s the new in-thing sweeping across social media. Everyone from athletes to celebrities are recording videos of themselves dumping an ice cold bucket of water over their heads to raise funds to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease. While the whole thing is based on good intentions, but some of these videos don’t go so well.
YouTube has been flooded with videos of people taking the challenge. Many have tried to one up another by having fire trucks or even helicopters dump the water on them. As you can imagine, not all of these stunts go as planned. Even the basic dumping of water from a bucket has had a few hilarious consequences. Let’s take a look at some of the ALS ice bucket challenge fails…
http://youtu.be/wCisNA4Wbw0
Lou Gehrig’s Disease, known as ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a motor neuron disease, which caused the person affected to lose basic motor control. It causes muscle weakness, trouble speaking, trouble swallowing, and trouble breathing. Most people affected usually die from the disease in about 39 months. More than 5,600 are diagnosed in the United States every year and it affects 2 out of every 100,000 people.
The ice bucket challenge is designed to raise funds for research against the disease. The challenge has so far raised $41.8 million in donations from July 28 – August 21. They raised $10 million on August 21st alone! The fundraiser is smashing all kinds of records. (ALS earned $63 million in donations for all of 2013) and continues to grow.
THE 411
Name: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
What: viral video campaign to raise funds for Lou Gehrig’s Disease research
Suggested cost: $10 if you dump the bucket of ice, $100 if not
Time: participants challenged are to complete their challenge within 24 hours
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS
The ice bucket challenge is a great idea, but I just hope that it doesn’t take away from other charitable organizations that are trying to raise funds. Whether you choose to participate or not, charitable donation is up to the individual giver. It’s up to you – where you decide your money goes.