Taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – a challenge to either dump a bucket of ice water over one’s head, or write a check to an ALS related charity. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS is a debilitating and progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Muscles eventually atrophy and waste away. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. It’s a horrible disease, and so far this Ice Bucket Challenge has helped to raise more than $5.5 million dollars to fight ALS.

Everyone from Jimmy Fallon, to Martha Stewart, to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have dumped buckets of ice water over their heads for this cause. My husband, Don Diamont was issued the challenge from Mark Piniciotti, one of the producers of The Bold and The Beautiful.

Don issued the challenge to the coaches and staff of Indiana University football and basically all of Hoosier Nation. The coaches have stepped up, including Head Coach, Kevin Wilson.

There are so many negative things that go on in this world. The groundswell of positive energy and sense of community that the Ice Bucket Challenge is fostering is wonderful. It is little things like this that can help make those negative things seem a little less daunting. I hope those who are battling ALS feel a bit more loved and a bit more hopeful that one day soon there will be a cure for this disease. In the meantime, hooray for raising money and awareness!

Have you taken the Ice Bucket Challenge?