If you can't take the cold, then pay up -- to charity.
A new trend is sweeping social media in which people dump a bucket of ice water over their heads, record a video of it, and post it to sites like Twitter or Facebook with a challenge: ice yourself within 24 hours and post the video online, or make a donation to charity.
This viral charity campaign has gained enormous traction since it was started 10 days ago to raise money and awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease. Pete Frates, who used to play baseball for Boston College, started the campaign to raise money for the disease. He was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2012. Also known as ALS, Lou Gehrig's is a degenerative nerve disease that currently does not have a cure. According to the ALS Association, an estimated 30,000 people in America suffer from ALS.
Social media stunts for charity have been raising tens of thousands of dollars and increasing awareness of things like ALS.
Participating celebrities include big names like Martha Stewart, Matt Lauer and golfer Greg Norman. They've all taken one for the team and doused themselves with a big icy bucket of water to spread awareness of ALS and raise money for the cause.
Lou Gehrig's disease spreads rapidly and is very debilitating. In the two years since his diagnosis, Frates has become paralyzed; he eats through a feeding tube and cannot talk. Even though he is only 29, he cannot move.
On August 7, Nancy and John Frates, Pete Frates' parents, dunked themselves with a bucket of ice water in front of a crowd of 200 people.
"Who knew all it would take was a bag of ice and a bucket?" John Frates said, addressing the crowd before he was doused with nine quarters of icy water.
So far, the Frates family has raised $15,000 through the ice water challenge.
In one upsetting turn, a 16-year-old child drowned in Minnesota when he jumped into a freezing lake as a twist on the challenge. Police in the area issued a statement children and teens against jumping into frigid rivers. However, most of what has come out of this challenge has been positive.
"It's just been wonderful visibility for the ALS community," said Barbara Newhouse, the national president of the ALS Association. "It is absolutely awesome. It's crazy, but it's awesome, and it's working."
