Ice Bucket Challenge: How has the campaign fared so far?
updated the 21 October 2015 à 17:57The Ice Bucket Challenge raised a grand total of USD115 million to fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease. But how have the donations been used and are you ready to go at it again?
Remember that one year where celebrities, CEOs of some of the largest companies, sports stars and basically everyone with Internet poured a bucket of ice water on their head to support research on ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease)? Which was swiftly following with a sum donated to the association? The Ice Bucket Challenge as it was known became a phenomenon that not only increased awareness of the condition but encouraged people to be more generous.
Now the ALS Association has unveiled a report that details how the donations have been utilised in a bid to be transparent and further spur a giving attitude.
How were the donations used?
The Ice Bucket Challenge raised a total of USD115 million in just a few months. USD77 million (67% of the donations) have been allocated to various research programs, in particular to understand the genetic mechanism responsible for some cases of Lou Gehrig’s disease, to better understand the biological development of the disease and of course for the development of new drugs. USD23 million was used to support and facilitate the lives of patients while the remainder was invested in the training of health professionals.
Ice Bucket Challenge 2.0
The ALS Association is definitely keen to continue riding the wave of the Ice Bucket Challenge until a cure for the condition is found. So go ahead and continue with the campaign and effectively, this could be repeated every year in August!
Maureen Diament
