'Ice Bucket Challenge' Pushes Donations To ALS Association To $22.9 Million
BOSTON (CBS) - Donations continue to pour in thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge, and on Tuesday the ALS Association announced that it has received nearly $23 million thanks to the viral movement.
A total of $22.9 million has been raised for the ALS Association between July 29 and August 19, due in large part to the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge. During the same time period last year, the organization said it received $1.9 million.
The majority of the funds have come from 453,210 new donors.
"Our top priority right now is acknowledging all the gifts made by donors to the ALS Association," Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association, said in a statement Tuesday.
"We want to be the best stewards of this incredible influx of support. To do that, we need to be strategic in our decision making as to how the funds will be spent so that when people look back on this event in ten and twenty years, the Ice Bucket Challenge will be seen as a real game-changer for ALS."
When accepting the Ice Bucket Challenge, social media users record video of themselves dumping a bucket of ice over their head, and in turn ask several friends to do the same while donating to charity.
Though the Ice Bucket Challenge has been around for several months, it gained traction this summer in the Boston area when former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates began using the challenge to raise awareness about ALS on social media.
(For more information on Frates, visit petefrates.com)
MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON