Over the past few months, donations to the ALS Association have skyrocketed because of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Still many are unaware what ALS actually is, how it affects people and what the challenge is for. According to the ALS Association, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting the motor neurons going from the brain to the spinal cord and then to the muscles. When these motor neurons die, the brain no longer has the ability to initiate or control muscle movement. Voluntary muscle movement is progressively affected, ultimately leading to paralysis. The disease then affects vital muscle movement in organs such as the heart and lungs, eventually leading to death.
There is currently no cure for ALS, although there are several treatments to help slow the effects of the disease.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge™ is designed to raise awareness for this terrible disease and to raise money to hopefully find a cure.
According to CBS News, the social media campaign has helped raise more than $114 million this summer.
Due to the awareness and donations raised for ALS, we at The Pacer thought it would be a good idea to start a campus-wide initiative to further the cause of the ALS Association.
Starting today, Tues. Sept. 23, The Pacer Staff challenges SGA to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. If SGA chooses to accept, they must record their challenge and send the video to www.thepacer.net for publishing. If SGA chooses to donate, they may do so at www.alsa.org. SGA will have one week starting today to accept the challenge.
