By paNOW

ALS Society happy with awareness raised by Ice Bucket Challenge

Aug 15, 2014 | 6:35 AM

The latest viral video challenge involves getting a very cold dunk for a good cause.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is meant to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease which is also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Tammy Moore is the interim CEO of the ALS Society of Canada. She says the Ice Bucket Challenge originated in June in Boston, started by an ALS patient named Pete Frates. The challenge itself is to dump a bucket of ice water over your head or make a donation, then pass it on to two more people. It started taking off in the U.S. with celebrities and professional athletes doing their own videos.

“It was really last Friday with Sidney Crosby and his big splash – that’s when we saw it coming into Canada,” Moore said.

She says this kind of awareness really is good for an important cause. There are currently no treatments or cure for ALS which is a progressive neuromuscular disease that eventually causes paralysis.

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“We have 3,000 people that are currently living with ALS within Canada, 1,000 more will be diagnosed this year and unfortunately 1,000 more will pass away,” Moore said.

She says these videos are making a difference to raise the profile of this terminal disease across North America.

“We’ve seen a spike in donations and definitely that spike in awareness as we can look at our Facebook and our Twitter feeds and see the number of re-tweets and the number of responses that we’re getting,” Moore noted.

To learn more about how you can donate or support research for ALS you can visit www.als.ca.

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On Twitter: @princealbertnow