The “Ice Cube Challenge”, a viral fund collection campaign that collected millions for the research of ALS in 2014, has been reinvented by students from the University of South Carolina to address a new topic: the awareness of mental health.
Mental illness disease needs discussion (MIND) The #Speakyourmind campaign of the club, launched on Instagram in March, adapts the format of the challenge to raise funds for active minds, a non -profit organization whose mission is to mobilize young people and change mental health standards. Participants pour ice water on themselves, publish the videos and nominate others to join, all while emphasizing the importance of speaking with frankness about mental health.
The campaign exceeded $ 100,000 in donations on Friday and has attracted the participation of high profile figures, such as former NFL players, Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders.
Wade Jefferson, a USC young man who founded the Mind Club after losing two friends for suicide, said the campaign aims to normalize conversations about mental health and make them more accessible.
Jefferson was widely surprised that the trend of social networks won a traction, since it initially established a modest objective of collection of $ 500 funds while waiting for it to remain confined in the USC campus. He said that witnessing his viral popularity has been surreal for students involved.
Brett Curtis, director of fundraising and events of the community in Activice Minds, said that many non -profit organizations have long sought an equally effective movement.
“I think that fund collection professionals and non -profit organizations and the causes have sat around the tables for years trying to say: ‘What will our ice cube challenge be,'” Curtis said? “I think there is a small irony in the sense that it is only the challenge of the ice cube again, this time to talk about mental health.”
The Als association, which originally benefited from the 2014 challenge, has expressed its support for the new effort.
“We are delighted to see the spirit of the ice cube challenge live in new forms of activism,” said the Als association in a statement to NBC News.
At its most popular, the Als ICE Bucket Challenge attracted generalized attention, with public figures that include former President George W. Bush, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Derek Jeter among which participate.
The skeptics expressed concern that the popularity of the challenge was a fleeting trend and questioned whether it would lead to sustained funds for Als’s investigation.
As for the new challenge, Cutis emphasized that it was never only donations for active minds.
“Donations were always secondary,” he said. “This was an opportunity for us to support a group of students, and that has always been our mission. And I am excited to see what continues while doing it.”
