--- title: Obama Declines Ice Bucket Challenge, Donates Money Instead description: He'll donate cold, hard cash instead canonical: https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-12T19:31:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:41.726Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama politely declines pouring ice water over his body for charity og:description: He'll donate cold, hard cash instead og:url: https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc28f1624f8786754/69869f45169ab049fb27ab2f/453034980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Makes A Statement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama politely declines pouring ice water over his body for charity twitter:description: He'll donate cold, hard cash instead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc28f1624f8786754/69869f45169ab049fb27ab2f/453034980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Declines Ice Bucket Challenge > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=feaaf747-13d0-4675-920c-df593c1bf164&cr=time-nl-network-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 [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Aug 12, 2014 7:31 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama U.S. President Barack Obama Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Aug 12, 2014 7:31 PM UTC Presidents, they’re just like us! Just like everyone you’ve ever Facebook friended, President Obama has formally been invited, by Ethel Kennedy no less, to [dump a bucket of ice over his head](http://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/) to raise attention for Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. While the 86-year-old Kennedy matriarch had the strength of will to[ take the challenge](http://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/), Obama has officially declined the ice and instead is offering cold, hard cash. “The President appreciates Mrs. Kennedy thinking of him for the challenge — though his contribution to this effort will be monetary,” said White House spokesperson Eric Shutlz. Obama has promised to make a donation to an ALS charity this week. Since the Ice Bucket Challenge kicked off July 29, the national ALS Association has[ raised](http://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/) $2.3 million, including $1 million raised since Monday afternoon. _With reporting by Zeke J. Miller_ ## Transcript [00:00] If you've seen people all over your news feed dumping [00:02] buckets of ice water on themselves, you're not alone. [00:05] The ice bucket challenge is ironically one of the hottest [00:09] things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS [00:12] foundations. The challenge went viral thanks to former [00:15] Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, who was diagnosed [00:18] with a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou [00:21] Gehrig's disease disease in 2012. So what does the [00:24] challenge entail? A person dumps ice water on [00:27] themselves and then challenges six other people to do [00:30] the same in 24 hours or donate $ 100 to an ALS [00:37] charity. Celebrities such as The Fault in Our Stars actor [00:40] Ansel Elgort and Martha Stewart have joined in on the [00:42] challenge. Boston. com and. Frank's parents organized [00:46] a mass ice bucket challenge last Thursday, after which, [00:49] the website challenged New York City, Los Angeles, [00:52] and Chicago. Some questioned the effect of the ice [00:54] bucket challenge with the Boston Herald quoting a [00:56] Twitter user as saying. I don't see how dumping a [00:59] bucket of ice water over your head can cure a disease. [01:01] Meanwhile Frates told the paper, via Facebook, that [01:04] exposure like this is what the ALS community needs so [01:08] we can even attempt to find a cure and reversal for [01:11] people living with this insidious disease. The challenge [01:14] has led to a spike in donations for the ALS Association. [01:17] The foundation's president, Barbara Newhouse, told [01:20] CBS's WBZ News Radio that the organization raised [01:24] more than $ 168, 000 in online donations in the past [01:27] week, compared to just $ 14, 000 over the same time [01:31] frame last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/"},"headline":"Obama Declines Ice Bucket Challenge","datePublished":"2014-08-12T19:31:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:41.726Z","description":"He'll donate cold, hard cash instead","url":"https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/","keywords":["White House","Newsfeed","politics","viral","Obama","Ice Bucket Challenge"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc28f1624f8786754/69869f45169ab049fb27ab2f/453034980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc28f1624f8786754/69869f45169ab049fb27ab2f/453034980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Makes A Statement","caption":"President Obama Makes A Statement","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","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":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3104483/obama-declines-ice-bucket-challenge/","name":"Obama Declines Ice Bucket Challenge"}}]},{"@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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