ALS League launches new Ice Bucket Challenge
The local branch of the ALS League has launched a second edition of the fundraising initiative that raised €215 million around the world last year
In search of a treatment
The first ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was an immense international success last year with more than 17 million videos posted on Facebook, in which buckets of ice-cold water were emptied over people’s heads. People taking part then challenged others to follow their example, with a call to donate to ALS research an important part of the campaign.
Worldwide, the campaign raised €215 million last year, of which €310,000 came from Belgium. Locally, the money raised went to the Belgian leg of Project MinE, the largest DNA research in the world.
“It was decided on an international level that we would launch a new ALS Ice Bucket Challenge every year in August, until a treatment for ALS is found,” said Evy Reviers, CEO of the ALS League Belgium.
At the new launch, actress Leah Thys and model Anouck Lepere were among those being drenched by a bucket of ice-cold water as ambassadors for the campaign. Other ambassadors are former European president Herman Van Rompuy and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet of the national football team.
ALS is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that causes muscle atrophy, leading to eventual paralysis and respiratory failure. There are about 1,000 ALS patients in Belgium.
