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IT HAS BEEN dominating your social media streams all week, but the Ice Bucket Challenge is more than just people chucking water on themselves.
The initiative was started in America in order to raise funds for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is the US term for Motor Neurone Disease and the Ice Bucket Challenge’s spread through celebrities and media coverage has meant a fundraising windfall for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Their chief executive Aisling Farrell told RTÉ News today that €350,000 has been raised so far, with Rose of Tralee host Daithi Ó Sé sparking a surge in donations after taking on the challenge this week.
Farrell added that around a quarter of a million euro has been raised from people texting MND to 50300 to donate €2.
In the US, over $15 million has been raised so far.
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In the US as of today the ALS association has raised over 70 million dollars in the past month due to the ice bucket challenge compared to something like 2.5 million last year. That’s incredible!! I personally knew nothing of this disease before all this hype on social media so the raising awareness alone has been a huge success. It’s great plus it’s a bit of craic:)
And that’s why there is a challenge like this rather than simply ‘people donating money’ as others have moaned about.
The huge uptake of the challenge has put it – and MND – in peoples minds. Many of whom never heard of it. Awareness is just as important.
It’s doing a good thing and people are having a laugh about it and why not…
So do we know how much the CEO and senior executives are getting paid and if they take pension top ups from donations?
Dear I pee Freely (cynic ) Yes He or She does get paid and the salary is published and I presume some of there salary ends up as pension contributions, what else would you like to know … while you are at it please inform us/ me of your contribution to the planet
Dear jerry (head buried in sand) if you haven’t noticed some people are now more conscious about blindly giving to charities after the scandals that have rocked the industry and would like to have all relevant information to ensure it goes to where it’s needed most and not some broad fund with no oversight.
Great cause and all but I’m so sick of all these videos.
Ray, take a look at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYrihYOxA5U this video was taken over the course of one year, this is what the challenges are about, if you could look past the attention seekers of some of them an see that they are still raising awareness for a worthy cause then the challenges will have done their jobs, if you made a donation even better. (reminder to all just text MND to 50300 to donate just €2 to a very worthy cause)
Don’t know why that didn’t come up as a link but if you search YouTube under Joe Barnwell MND and me you should find it.
It’s going to be a template for charity groups in the future. Get used to seeing a lot more challenges in the future.
And the vast majority have no idea what it is about. They just say ice bucket challebge in a lot of posts I see. No reference to ALS or motor neuron. A great chance to get some attention though and to follow the herd.
More celebrities should do what Steve-O or Charlie Sheen did instead of just donating $100 that’s what most people are complaining about not the challenge itself.
As a Celtic fan I’ve seen what this disease can do to people such as Jinky Johnstone, the man voted the Greatest Ever Celt, this disease is indiscriminate and can strike down anyone from a 30 stone layabout to an athlete whos as fit as can be.
Once they donate money who cares you fool
The rabble has spoken
I am just so enjoying all this ice bucket challenge. It has made FB so much more enjoyable and interesting. But just to think of the amount of money this challenge is making for Motor Neuron Disease is so astounding.! It certainly beats all the cake sales and car boot sales and its a joy to hear everyone laughing and enjoying the challenge so much. Big nights out and cabarets etc take so much organisation and cannot raise the same amount of money for good causes. This just takes about 3 minutes and has such an impact. I think this is going to be the way forward Also there are so many children who are just so happy to be drenching there Mum or Dad and also learning that everyone is not so lucky.. Remember the “no make up selfie”? A huge success also. So stop moaning and try to come up with a good idea for your favourite cause. Congratulations to all who have participated and donated to this wonderful cause. I hope it has in its own way given an uplift to anyone who is suffering from this dreadful disease.
350,000 only?? With all the shite videos people are doing?? Thats not great. I think the 10 seconds of fame has got to people and some are not donating, just trying to be in!! Donate you spa’s
I think it’s fantastic. .doesnt annoy me a bit ..as I reckon whatever money gets donated to Mnd is well worth it. I definitely think getting people to text- donate is the best way to get quick and relatively easy donations.
It’s awful charities with such worthy causes have to resort to such desperation to raise funds.It seems to me this has been hijacked by people trying out do each other and stupid woman in wet tshirt comps hoping their videos go viral.half the time the actual charity seems distant second to what exposure people can get from their videos.the donation should be linked to how many likes or exposure people get then at least the monetary gain for the charity would be more meaningful.
Does any of that really matter at the end of the day? Money raised is money raised..
Marina get a life!
It is far from desperation. It all started in the states. It wasn’t even a charity that got it started.
From a marketing and budget point of view it is gold because the organisations spent very little if anything, and the viral aspect of the challenge takes over and spreads.
They’re will always be idiots but in this case the charities are definitely the winners.
My favourite – class & dignity preserved.
Patrick Stewart’s Ice Bucket Challenge:
http://youtu.be/Ty6-Ug1wk-0
Dont agree. Anybody with a few bob could do the same thing. No heart in that!
It really irritates me seeing so many people do this for “likes” and not actually donating though. A guy on my feed did the challenge last week, didn’t donate the €10… And then was boasting the following day about how he purchased a bottle of wine that was over fifty years old on a “random night out”. Why are we encouraging these people?
Celtic are shite
If you had replied to my post you might have looked semi intelligent however posting Celtic are shite as a stand alone comment in an article about MND makes you look quite the fool.
Thanks for the response mate. Glad I got your attention.
Great cause everybody is getting involved fair play to everyone
Do people really think o se started this off in Ireland . Half the people in the country don’t even know him or watch the rose of Tralee
Steve get a life!
Andrew Lydon from Toureen.Bealandangan in Galway is a sufferer of this awful disease and any help in finding a cure for future sufferers is his aim. See his ice bucket challenge.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10203721484174265&id=1132821821
I wonder how many celebrities would be queuing up to do the bucket of Pi*s challenge?
Andrew Lydon from Toureen.Bealandangan in Galway is a sufferer of this awful disease and any help in finding a cure for future sufferers is his aim. See his ice bucket challenge.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10203721484174265&id=1132821821
I think it is stupid and a waste of water.Our government has enough funds to fund the research against this dreadful disease since they can afford to send millions to Syria.Thumb me down as much as you like but in my opinion it is up to the governments around the world to help and not the ordinary people.
What a horrible, heartless comment. You have clearly never watched someone you love suffer from an incurable disease. If it wasn’t for “ordinary people” who’s lives have been touched by these issues then money raised and awareness would by non existent. $70 million in the US and €350,000 is outstandingly positive.
That’s great, very worthy cause…
Have donated more then once to this charity a well worth cause as i know someone that suffered from als and recently passed away…
@melweiser wake up.There is nothing positive from this silly game.It is not us the little people who should fund charities. The greedy sharks in the Dail can well afford to fund all charities
@melweiser you are deluded.Sorry.
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