The Ice Bucket Challenge phenomenon has taken social media by storm in support of the battle against Lou Gehrig’s disease.
It started with one man’s struggle with the disease, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Pete Frates challenged friends to take part in a challenge in which they dump a bucket of ice on their own head as a way to raise awareness and funds around a disease that greatly impacts his life.
Frates, a former Boston College baseball team captain, was 29 when he was diagnosed with ALS in March 2013.
Now word of the Ice Bucket Challenge has made its way to the Flin Flon area as firefighters, paramedics, police officers and other area residents have accepted nominations to participate.
Participants are required to accept their nomination, dump a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads, nominate three other individuals and then make a donation to the ALS Association.
The Flin Flon and Creighton areas have seen a number of nominations come down the line. Paramedics Stacey Bongfeldt and Jody Suski were among two recent participants as they raised a combined $70.
Though there are no specific rules posted on the ALS Association’s website, the general consensus says participants who do not accept the challenge are to donate $100 while those who do accept are to donate at least $10 and complete the challenge.
Donations can be made at www.alsa.org
Doing its job
Bongfeldt first learned what the Ice Bucket Challenge was when she was nominated by local firefighter Jason Mucha.
Suski had heard of the challenge earlier in the week through her daughter, but still didn’t have a grasp of the concept.
“I’m a [paramedic] and work in health care facilities and I didn’t know [much about ALS], so it forced me to look into it,” said Bongfeldt. “It did what it was supposed to do. It brought light to ALS.”
Going strong
The Ice Bucket Challenge has gone viral, with celebrities like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Reba McIntyre, Bon Jovi, Stephen King, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, among others, taking part.
Participants have been taking to Twitter (#IceBucketChallenge and #StrikeOutALS) to share visuals of their ice-cold experience.
As of Wednesday morning, the ALS Association had reported $31.5 million being raised. The site did not offer a closing date to the challenge, but with the support the campaign is receiving locally, nationally, and internationally, it is sure to continue.
