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Pete's Challenge
"SC Featured" tells the story of former Boston College captain Peter Frates, who inspired the "Ice Bucket Challenge" phenomenon that has raised awareness -- and over $10 million -- for ALS.
The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. It went viral throughout social media during mid 2014. In the UK, people participate in the challenge for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and challenging others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated people have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.
Origin
The origins of the idea of dumping cold water on one's head to raise money for charity are unclear and have been attributed to multiple sources. From mid-2013 to early 2014, a challenge of unknown origin often called the "Cold Water Challenge" became popular on social media in areas of the northern United States. The task usually involved the option of either donating money to cancer research or having to jump into cold water.
One version of the challenge, which took place in Salem, Indiana as early as May 15, 2014, involved dousing participants with cold water and then donating to a charity; for example, the Auckland Division of the Cancer Society of New Zealand. As with similar challenges, it was usually filmed so footage can be shared online.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation popularized the "Cold Water Challenge" in early 2014 to raise funds as an unsanctioned spin-off of the polar plunge most widely used by Special Olympics as a fundraiser.
On May 20, 2014, the Washington Township, New Jersey fire department posted a video on YouTube participating in the "Cold Water Challenge" with fire hoses. Participating members of the department were subsequently punished for using fire department equipment without permission.
Shifting focus to ALS
The challenge first received increased media attention in the United States on June 30, 2014, when personalities of the program Morning Drive, which airs weekdays on Golf Channel, televised the social-media phenomenon, and performed a live, on-air Ice Bucket Challenge.
Soon after, the challenge was brought to mainstream audiences when television anchor Matt Lauer did the Ice Bucket Challenge on July 15, 2014 on NBC's The Today Show at Greg Norman's challenge.
On the same day, golfer Chris Kennedy did the challenge and then challenged his cousin Jeanette Senerchia of Pelham, New York, whose husband, Anthony, has had ALS for 11 years. Kennedy "was the first ... to focus the freezing fundraiser on ALS research."
Green Bay local radio and TV personality John Maino performs the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who has ALS began posting about the challenge on Twitter. Frates is a patient advocate who was awarded the Stephen Heywood Patients Today Award in 2012 for his fundraising and advocacy work. Frates' Boston College and sporting connections became an initial focus of the challenge and strengthened its focus on ALS.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, was challenged by Ethel Kennedy but declined, opting to contribute to the campaign with a donation of $100. Justin Bieber, LeBron James, and "Weird" Al Yankovic also challenged President Obama after completing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Former president George W. Bush completed the challenge and nominated Bill Clinton. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, was challenged by both Alex Salmond and Russell Brand, but also declined in favour of a donation.
Rules
Within 24 hours of being challenged, participants have to record a video of themselves in continuous footage. First, they are to announce their acceptance of the challenge followed by pouring ice into a bucket of water. Then, the bucket is to be lifted and poured over the participant's head. Then the participant can call out a challenge to other people.
Whether people choose to donate, perform the challenge, or do both varies. In one version of the challenge, the participant is expected to donate $10 if they have poured the ice water over their head or donate $100 if they have not. In another version, dumping the ice water over the participant's head is done in lieu of any donation, which has led to some criticisms of the challenge being a form of "slacktivism". Individual videos have included the participant saying that they will be making a donation along with performing the challenge.
Effects
In mid-2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media and became a pop culture phenomenon, particularly in the United States, with numerous celebrities, politicians, athletes, and everyday Americans posting videos of themselves online and on TV participating in the event.
According to The New York Times people shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and August 13 and mentioned the phenomenon more than 2.2 million times on Twitter between July 29 and August 17. Mashable called the phenomenon "the Harlem Shake of the summer".
Prior to the challenge, public awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was relatively limited; the ALS Association state that prior to the challenge going viral only half of Americans had heard of the disease, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease", after the famous baseball player Lou Gehrig, who publicly revealed his diagnosis back in the 1940s.
After the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media, public awareness and charitable donations to ALS charities soared. The New York Times reported that the ALS Association had received $41.8 million in donations from July 29 until August 21. More than 739,000 new donors have given money to the association, which is more than double the $19.4 million in total contributions the association received during the year that ended January 31, 2013. Similarly, the ALS Therapy Development Institute reported a ten-fold increase in donations relative to the same period in 2014, with over 2,000 donations made in a single day on August 20, 2014, while Project ALS reported a 50-fold increase.
The ALS Association, which had raised $64 million in all of 2013, raised more than $10 million on Thursday, August 21, 2014 alone.
In the United Kingdom, people have also been facing the challenge for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, MND Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support.
On August 22, 2014, the Detroit Free Press reported that scammers were taking advantage of the challenge. The scam usually involves sending an email containing promises of watching videos of the challenge and then installing either spyware or malware on the user's computer or taking them to a fake website where they are asked to enter personal information.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Bucket_Challenge
