This is a guest post, collated by our Digital Journalist Natalie Samson in Storify.
The ALS #IceBucketChallenge campaign has been making the social media rounds this summer. The campaign aims to raise research and treatment funds as well as general awareness around ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that leads progressive paralysation and has no known cause or cure.
The name pretty much says it all: folks who accept the challenge are expected to make a small donation to an ALS-related organization, pour a bucket of icy water over their heads, post a video of it online with a challenge to two or three other people. Those who opt out are expected to donate $100. It’s caught on with celebrities, politicians, athletes and more recently with senior leaders at Canadian universities.