The Ice Bucket Challenge started in 2014 and was initially called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness and eventually paralysis. Three men living with ALS started this challenge to raise awareness about the disease. They wanted to raise money to research a cure. This viral challenge raised $115 million worldwide, with over 17 million people participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Fast forward to March 2025, the ice bucket challenge became viral again. This time, instead of raising awareness for ALS, the challenge is for mental health. The University of South Carolina’s Mental Health Needs Discussion (MIND) club started the challenge. The challenge requires participants to video themselves dumping ice water over their heads, post the video by tagging @uscmind on Instagram, donate to mental health causes, and nominate others to complete the challenge within 24 hours.
USC’s MIND club has raised almost $400,000 since the Ice Bucket Challenge returned. They will donate all the money raised to Active Minds, a non-profit that promotes mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially among youth.
Unfortunately, the challenge has started to lose its meaning and purpose. Fewer people are donating and are only completing the challenge because it’s a trend. While millions are still participating in the challenge, many don’t know what it stands for.
“I did the Ice Bucket Challenge after my friend nominated me,” Sarai Crowley, a freshman at EHS said. “It’s a ‘trend’ going around and people are passing it up as fun, even though it is to show more awareness towards mental health.”
It’s easy for viral, social media trends to lose their original meaning. To keep the ice bucket challenge meaningful and important, we must refocus on its goals: raising money and awareness for causes like mental health or ALS. If people pay attention to the cause, this challenge has the potential to inspire real change.
