Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? It Worked!

The Ice Bucket Challenge was everywhere, including Kalamazoo, 2 Summers ago. Money raised by donations has helped find the next step in the cure for ALS.

Internet fads often come and go and are quickly forgotten (planking, anyone?) but the Ice Bucket Challenge has had lasting effects.

The ALS Association is reporting that researchers funded by donations from the craze have found an important discovery of a gene's connection to the progressive, deadly disease.

Global collaboration among scientists, which was really made possible by ALS Ice Bucket Challenge donations, led to this important discovery. It is a prime example of the success that can come from the combined efforts of so many people, all dedicated to finding the causes of ALS. This kind of collaborative study is, more and more, where the field is headed.

-ALS researcher Dr. John Landers, University of Massachusetts Medical School

But the work is not finished yet. This August, The ALS Association is seeking to raise awareness and funds to finish what the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started in 2014: an end to ALS. The new campaign, called Every Drop Adds Up, pays homage to the Ice Bucket Challenge, visually emphasizes the now iconic “bucket,” and builds on the idea that when people come together they can make big, impossible things happen. Visit www.everydropaddsup.org to learn more.

Bonus Video: Ice Bucket Challenge Fails (language)