Ice Bucket Challenge Yields Positive Results!

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Many of you remember (and may have participated in) the Ice Bucket Challenge that swept the world by storm back in 2014. Millions of people filmed or photographed themselves dumping buckets of ice and cold water over their heads, all to raise awareness and funding for ALS (a progressive neurodegenerative disease). Many thought it was a great publicity stunt, but few thought it would actually yield tangible results. However, the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised over $115 million dollars, and has funded six major research projects for ALS, including one that recently discovered the gene responsible for ALS. The identification of the gene now means that researchers can work toward developing a new gene therapy to treat it. According to the BBC, more than 17 million people/groups uploaded Ice Bucket Challenge videos to Facebook, which were then viewed by an estimated 440 million people worldwide. Now that's the power of social media to enact good in this world! Did you ever do the Ice Bucket Challenge, or donate to the ALS?