Ice Bucket Challenge Returns But For A Different Cause
It was a “chilling” experience back in 2014. Getting an icy cold bucket of water dumped on your head, all for a great cause. The Ice Bucket Challenge was created…
GLOUCESTER, MA – DECEMBER 28: People participate in one last ice bucket challenge during the last annual “Plunge 4 Pete” on what would have been Pete Frates 35th birthday on Dec. 28, 2019 in Gloucester, MA. Plunge for Pete began as a fund-raiser in 2012 after Frates’ diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, and one of many events organized or endorsed by his family that has helped raise many millions for ALS research. Pete Frates used social media to help popularize the Ice Bucket Challenge.” (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
It was a "chilling" experience back in 2014. Getting an icy cold bucket of water dumped on your head, all for a great cause. The Ice Bucket Challenge was created to raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.
The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge, which became a worldwide phenomenon, raised over $115 million for ALS research that summer.
The Ice Bucket Challenge just made a comeback, but for a different cause.
The #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge was recently created by a group of students in the Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) Club at the University of South Carolina in late March.
Students in the group said participants in the challenge should nominate those they can "SpeakYourMIND" to. Donations raised from the challenge will go toward Active Minds, the country's largest nonprofit dedicated to changing the barriers surrounding open mental health discussion.
Wade Jefferson, a junior at USC, decided to form the MIND club after two of his friends took their own lives. He set a goal of raising $500, never dreaming the SpeakYourMIND challenge would get national attention, but it has.
"Everyone faces struggles, and no matter who you are, there's someone out there who's willing to listen. This challenge is proof of that," Jefferson told the Daily Gamecock publication at USC.
Ice Bucket Challenge Gets National Attention
The new ice bucket challenge has exploded on TikTok and Instagram this month and it's only expected to get bigger.
Celebrities and professional athletes are even joining the new viral craze. Former NFL star Peyton Manning participated in the challenge on his Instagram story, then challenged his brother, Eli Manning. "Today" show host Jenna Bush Hager participated this week on the show, dumping buckets of icy cold water on co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly.
Jefferson said over $190,000 has been raised so far, with the goal now increased to $250,000.
The SpeakYourMIND challenge is in full swing, just as Mental Health Awareness Month approaches in May.
Jefferson said he hopes the challenge will encourage students to start their own MIND chapters on other campuses and continue the mission of promoting mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
"It would mean the world. I've had people at other colleges already ask me about that, that's what we envision," said Jefferson.
