--- title: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Dumping Ice Water for Lou Gehrig's Disease description: It's all for science canonical: https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-11T12:27:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:58:19.653Z og:title: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Dumping Ice Water for Lou Gehrig's Disease og:description: It's all for science og:url: https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88894cfc5ef4768a/69869efed0b6f20534305a27/ice-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Beryl Lipton douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square on August 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Dumping Ice Water for Lou Gehrig's Disease twitter:description: It's all for science twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88894cfc5ef4768a/69869efed0b6f20534305a27/ice-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why People Are Dumping Ice on Themselves and Posting Videos of It > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=08c6cd47-ef4a-4834-b9cf-755aefc91c9d&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge [Watch (HLS stream): It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GIHofBBD.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2014-08-11. If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 11, 2014 12:27 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 11, 2014 12:27 PM UTC Charity has taken a chilly turn over the past week, as more and more celebrities and other people have opted to dump ice water on themselves and record the whole thing—all to raise money for research into ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As a part of the so-called “ice bucket challenge,” [started by a Massachusetts resident](http://www.alsa.org/news/archive/ice-bucket-challenge.html) who has lived with ALS since 2012 to raise awareness for the disease, after posting their own ice-bucket videos, participants nominate others to get drenched via social media to keep the cycle going. If those challenged don’t accept, or fail to post their video within 24-hours, they must donate cash to ALS research. ALS is a [neurodegenerative disease](http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html) that impacts the brain and spinal chord, causing progressive paralysis. [Boston](https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2014/08/07/bostonians-accept-ice-bucket-challenge/DjJuksqazGGN7wNGTvBLZK/story.html) has taken heed, with athletes, Mayor Marty Walsh, and others recording themselves getting soaked. [Boston.com](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/08/06/explaining-the-icebucketchallenge-and-why-you-need-join-boston-com-for-city-wide-soaking-copley/DgxFEdjPb5n3eQDfQgmCIL/story.html) hosted a citywide dousing last Thursday, challenging New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to do the same. Celebrities have also taken part, with Lance Bass, Matt Lauer, Martha Stewart and Ansel Elgort among the more notable participants. No word on how much the challenged has raised for ALS research so far, but the director of the ALS Therapy Development Institute in Massachusetts told the [Boston _Herald_](http://bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/steve%5Fbuckley/2014/08/buckley%5Fice%5Fbucket%5Fchallenge%5Fa%5Fboon%5Fto%5Fals%5Fresearch) researchers are already seeing a boost in donations. “We are seeing 10 times the number of online donations every day,” Carol Hamilton told the newspaper. “We are seeing an incredible number of people who didn’t know much about ALS last week and who do today.” ## Transcript If you've seen people all over your news feed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you're not alone. The ice bucket challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS foundations. The challenge went viral thanks to former Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease disease in 2012. So what does the challenge entail? A person dumps ice water on themselves and then challenges six other people to do the same in 24 hours or donate $ 100 to an ALS charity. Celebrities such as The Fault in Our Stars actor Ansel Elgort and Martha Stewart have joined in on the challenge. Boston. com and. Frank's parents organized a mass ice bucket challenge last Thursday, after which, the website challenged New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Some questioned the effect of the ice bucket challenge with the Boston Herald quoting a Twitter user as saying. I don't see how dumping a bucket of ice water over your head can cure a disease. Meanwhile Frates told the paper, via Facebook, that exposure like this is what the ALS community needs so we can even attempt to find a cure and reversal for people living with this insidious disease. The challenge has led to a spike in donations for the ALS Association. The foundation's president, Barbara Newhouse, told CBS's WBZ News Radio that the organization raised more than $ 168, 000 in online donations in the past week, compared to just $ 14, 000 over the same time frame last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/"},"headline":"Here's Why People Are Dumping Ice on Themselves and Posting Videos of It","datePublished":"2014-08-11T12:27:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:58:19.653Z","description":"It's all for science","url":"https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Boston","viral","Ice Bucket Challenge"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88894cfc5ef4768a/69869efed0b6f20534305a27/ice-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88894cfc5ef4768a/69869efed0b6f20534305a27/ice-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beryl Lipton douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square on August 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS.","caption":"Beryl Lipton douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square on August 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS.","creditText":"Elise Amendola—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/","name":"Here's Why People Are Dumping Ice on Themselves and Posting Videos of It"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge","description":"If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. 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