Is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge for real?

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen more than one friend dumping a bucket of ice on their heads. 

So is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge for real? Yes it is – and it’s making a difference. Here’s how it works. If you’re nominated, you have two choices: Dump a bucket of ice or ice water over your head or donate $100 to the ALS Foundation. Should you opt for the challenge, you’ll need to nominate three friends, videotape and share the whole ordeal.

So what’s the point if folks opt for the ice over the donation, or ignore the challenge all together? According to Carol Hamilton, development director of the ALS Therapy Development Institute, they are seeing 10 times the number of online donations every day since the challenge went viral. Many of the donations are small but they add up. It’s basically the social media equivalent of the mayor agreeing to subject himself to the old-school dunk tank to raise money at the town fair – and you’re the mayor. 

We have a man named Patrick Quinn to thank for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Patrick 30 years old from Yonkers, NY and was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease last year.