10th Anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge!

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10th Anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge!

Ten years ago, a few young men in the northeastern United States started a global social media phenomenon that raised hope, awareness, and buckets of money to invest in research, care, and advocacy for people living with ALS/MND around the world.

Pete Frates, Patrick Quinn, and Anthony Senerchia, Jr., inspired the world, demonstrating that even fundraising for a fatal disease could still be fun. While they are no longer with us, their legacy lives on. 

The Ice Bucket Challenge led to new treatments being approved, new genes being discovered, new assistive technology being developed, and new global research collaborations.

Ice bucket origins

The Ice Bucket Challenge provided some distraction and fun with a purpose for millions back in 2014. People all over the world could watch friends shiver for a good cause or take a freezing bucket on the head themselves.

It may have inspired Facebook to launch its donate button and choose-your-charity birthday fundraisers, which have raised more than $7 billion for a wide range of causes.

It all started when three young men, Frates, of Beverly, Massachusetts, Pat Quinn of Yonkers, New York, and Anthony Senerchia, from the nearby town of Pelham – who by rights should have been thinking about anything other than their imminent deaths – were trading messages and calls, trying to come up with fundraising ideas for their disease.

They stumbled across a reference to an ice bucket fundraiser, inspired by the tradition of dumping the contents of a Gatorade cooler on the coach after a big win. The idea was first used by a women's college basketball coach diagnosed with breast cancer. The trio of young men decided to repurpose it to raise money and awareness for ALS.

The dire circumstances of these young, vibrant men and the hilarity of the ice dumps struck a chord and a movement was born.

At the height of the viral trend, ice bucket challenges raised $115 million for The ALS Association in just six weeks.

Now, the goal is to get people who had fun with the challenge a decade ago "to share that story with your 7-year-old, who is now 17, your 12-year-old who is now 22," Nancy Frates said. "Pass the torch to them."