The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Makes a Comeback This August 2015

This month, the disease awareness campaign that took the internet and Hollywood by storm is making a comeback. Thanks to the renewed joint efforts of co-founders Pete Frates, Pat Quinn and Anthony Senerchia, a number of celebrities, the Boston Red Sox and Major League Basketball (MLB), the viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge returns.

Last Friday, July 31, 2015, at Fenway Park, the MLB, the Red Sox, and representatives of key ALS organizations joined the campaign’s founders to officially kick off this year’s social media campaign with the aim to remind the global public of the disease, the brave individuals living with it, and the crucial need to support ongoing and future research initiatives for a cure.

“We are so thrilled and grateful to have every Major League Baseball team supporting us this year,” said Frates, a former Boston College baseball player and team captain. “Pat and I can’t wait to kick things off this Friday at Fenway. As the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge hits every ballpark around the country, we hope it will get bigger and bigger.”

All throughout the month of August, each Major League Club will conduct its own ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and pass the challenge on to the next franchise and at least two other local public figures or organizations. MLB also announced it will pledge $100,000 to the ALS Association. All donations will be used to fund all affiliated ALS organizations working together to fight ALS. You don’t have to be an MLB fan to show your support for this cause. Anyone interested to make a donation can do so at ALSIceBucketChallenge.org.

“Thank you to MLB and to everyone who is making it possible to transform a moment into a movement, establishing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge as an annual event to find treatments and cure for ALS. We have to finish what started last summer: every August until there’s a cure,” said Barb Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association.

Informative resources, such as a comedic infographic and instructional video are available here for those interested to join this month’s social media craze for a cause, and for those who would like to join but are living in areas affected by drought.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a huge success in 2014, when over 17 million videos were posted all over social networks, garnering views from 440 million people a total of 10 billion times. Donations poured in from all over the globe, amounting to $220 million, with $115 million pledged to the ALS Association.