The Ice Bucket Challenge aims to raise money for the ALS Association

Aug 14, 2014 17:30 GMT  ·  By
Take a bucket full of ice and water and pour it onto your head. This message went viral so more and more celebrities accepted the challenge.

After Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg or Microsoft's Satya Nadella got doused with ice water, Apple's Vice President of Marketing, Phil Schiller accepted to do the same. Along with a series of photos posted on his official Twitter account, he wrote: "Phil takes challenge! Challenges Chris, Kim and Tim. #IceBucketChallange"

 
So now Tim Cook, Apple's CEO and the american actor Chris O'Donnell should be next, if they accept the challenge. One other big tech guy mentioned by Mark Zuckerberg in his challenge is Bill Gates from Microsoft. 
 
ALS is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and it has been referred as "Lou Gehrig's Diseases". ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It eventually leads to death because the people affected by it cannot move. 
 
So far there is no cure or treatment that can stop or reverse ALS. The only drug approved by the FDA can only slow the progression. The so-called "Ice Bucket Challenge" has been taking the world by storm. In the past weeks, thousands of people have accepted to be soaked in ice water and challenge others to do the same or make a donation to fight ALS. 
 
In the past two weeks, the donations went up to $4 million (€3 million). That's almost 4 times the donations made last year. 
 
In a statement released by the President and CEO of the ALS Association, Barbara Newhouse said “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative."
 
According to the ALS Association, only about half of the general public knows about this disease and the Ice Bucket Challenge is making a great difference. Over 70,000 people have donated for this cause in the past two weeks. 
 
Best thing about this is that the more people find out about it, the more money they get and the faster they can find a cure or a treatment for ALS. 
 
The ALS Association hopes to work with pharmaceutical companies and academia to expedite new treatments for people touched by this disease. 
 
It remains to be seen whether Tim Cook and Bill Gates will take this challenge in the next 24 hours. Tim Cook has been involved in charity before so he may choose to donate instead. Would you try the Ice Bucket Challenge or donate $100 for a good cause?