1. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
• An activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to
promote awareness of the disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and
encourage donations to research.
• ALS is a disorder that affects the function of nerves and muscles.
• Based on U.S. population studies, a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are
diagnosed with ALS each year. (That's 15 new cases a day.)
• There is some evidence that people with ALS are living longer, at least
partially due to clinical management interventions, riluzole and possibly
other compounds and drugs under investigation.
2. Origin
• From mid-2013 to early 2014, a challenge of unknown origin often called the
"Cold Water Challenge" became popular on social media in areas of
the northern united states. The task usually involved the option of either
donating money to cancer research or having to jump into cold water.
• The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation popularized the "Cold Water
Challenge" in early 2014 to raise funds as an unsanctioned spin-off of
the polar plunge most widely used by Special Olympics as a fundraiser. As
with similar challenges, it was usually filmed so footage can be shared
online.
• The challenge first received increased media attention in the United
States on June 30, 2014, when personalities of the program Morning Drive,
which airs weekdays on Golf Channel, televised the social-media
phenomenon, and performed a live, on-air Ice Bucket Challenge
3. • On the same day, golfer Chris Kennedy did the challenge. Kennedy "was the
first ... to focus the freezing fundraiser on ALS research.“
• Former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who has ALS, began
posting about the challenge on Twitter . Frates' Boston College and sporting
connections became an initial focus of the challenge and strengthened its
focus on ALS .
4. Rules
• Within 24 hours of being challenged, participants have to record a video of
themselves & announce their acceptance of the challenge followed by pouring ice
into a bucket of water. Then, the bucket is to be lifted and poured over the
participant's head. Then the participant can call out a challenge to other people.
• Whether people choose to donate, perform the challenge, or do both varies, the
participant is expected to donate $10 if they have poured the ice water over their
head or donate $100 if they have not.
Effects
• In mid-2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media and became a pop
culture phenomenon, particularly in the United States, with numerous celebrities,
politicians, athletes, and everyday Americans posting videos of themselves online
and on TV participating in the event.
• Americans had heard of the disease, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease",
after the famous baseball player Lou Gehrig, who publicly revealed his diagnosis in
1939.
5. Charity fundraising
• Till August 25, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised $79.7 million for the ALS
Association, compared to $2.5 million raised over the same period in 2013.
$100 million are collected till date.
• Many celebrities have taken part in the challenge, including Cristiano
Ronaldo, Chris Pratt, Roger Federer, David Beckham, Britney Spears, George W.
Bush, Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, Russell Brand , Oprah Winfrey, Charlie
Sheen and Bill Gates, among many other well-known personalities and members
of the general public.
6.
7. Rice Bucket Challenge
• Indians are giving food to their poor neighbours for a charity spin-off they are
calling the RICE Bucket Challenge. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has
morphed into a considerably warmer and drier alternative in India.
• It involves giving a bucket of rice to someone in need and taking a picture to
share online, with the Twitter #RiceBucketChallenge.
• The challenge aims to help the country's vast population of poor and hungry
people, and the movement's Facebook page has so far clocked up more than
50,000 likes.
• Inspired by ALS ice bucket challenge.
8. Origin
• Indian journalist Manju Latha Kalanidhi , working at
US based rice research website oryza.com , came up
with an idea of rice bucket challenge .
• She says that “Hunger is a disease anybody would
connect with.“
• The challenge is gaining support, with students of
the Indian Institute of Management signing up, and
the Air Asia India airline saying its chief executive
and senior management will take part.
• India is the world's second-biggest rice consumer,
with reserves of 21.2 million tones of the grain.
9. • In India, the ice bucket challenge has generated attention
too -- Bollywood stars have mirrored their Hollywood
counterparts -- but it now seems it will be eclipsed by
what some are describing as an Indian challenge for
Indian needs: fighting hunger.
• #RiceBucketChallenge is on its way to going viral in India
-- it's on TV news, on Twitter, and it now has a Facebook
page with thousands of likes.
• People from all over the world are appreciating Manju
Kalanidhi’s idea of rice bucket challenge, she is receiving
mails, messages from Sweden , England and beyond.
• The explosion of interest in the rice challenge is an
indicator of how powerful social media has become in
India.
