Pay it forward with a twist: dunk or donate.
That’s the M.O. of the latest internet sensation, the ALS ice bucket challenge.
Challengers nominate their friends, giving them 24 hours to either drench themselves by pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads or donate $100 to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association . Challengees then become challengers, and the cycle continues.
The ALS ice bucket challenge has been circulating the web for more than a year, but it went viral July 29 . It has since struck New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie , Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg , “Today Show” Host Matt Lauer , performer Justin Timberlake, billionaire Bill Gates and the Kennedy family .
But a fundraising phenomenon that has taken off across political and celebrity circles first took root in the sporting world. The golfing community tasked each other with the decision to dunk or donate as a means to support various charities, eventually leading golfer Chris Kennedy to challenge his cousin, whose husband has had ALS for 11 years .
The ALS challenge caught national attention when former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago, began inspiring professional baseball players to unite around the virtually unspoken-about disease that has no treatment or cure.
An unstoppable force, the challenge hit Bloomington on Aug. 13.
Latest to accept the challenge is IU Football Coach Kevin Wilson, who took his bucket of ice the way many coaches have unwittingly over the years: in a Gatorade cooler dispensed by his players . But unlike Gatorade baths of games past, this drenching has a bigger victory than winning a football game to celebrate.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is an often fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes patients to lose the ability to control muscles in their bodies . The ALS Association announced in a press release that in two weeks’ time, it has raised more than $7.6 million , compared to just $1.4 million in the same two-week period last year .
The challenge has helped bring awareness to and support for finding a cure for the disease, but more than that, it has given people a reminder of the power of collective movement: one that fills our browsers with generosity and positivity rather than rumors and criticism.
It is the same message that sport teaches us: to work collectively, to root collectively, to care collectively. Sport would be irrelevant without the meaning that players and fans consciously give it. We give significance to putting the ball through the hoop, between the goalposts and into the net.
The same can be said of dumping a bucket of ice water over our heads. The act goes beyond the action itself.
It inspires
Now, I’m challenging IU students and faculty to inspire each other.
Old friends, use the challenge to reunite after a summer apart. New students, use it to bring the floor together for the ultimate ice breaker. And above all, witness the power that collective care — and a good cause — can have on a campus of more than 40,000 .
You have 24 hours.
vziege@indiana.edu
