The “Ice Bucket Challenge” is back and spreading throughout the country revealing the power of social media. The challenge took off at University of South Carolina but has expanded through Instagram and other social media platforms and is now a common trend across the country for teenagers, young adults, and children.
At the University of South Carolina, Wade Jefferson started a club called MIND, Mental Illness Needs Discussion, after losing two of his friends to suicide. Wade created this club in the hopes of bringing attention to mental health and making it a normal conversation with accessible outlets to help those suffering.
Wade and the MIND club decided to reintroduce the “Ice Bucket Challenge” created in 2014. The original 2014 “Ice Bucket Challenge” was created to raise money and awareness for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association. The challenge called for each participant to dump a bucket of ice cold water on themselves and nominate others to join and donate to the ASL Association to fund for more research about the disease.
The challenge exceeded their expectations of bringing attention to ASL and was a huge success. The ice bucket challenge managed to raise $115 million for the ALS Association in the United States, but $220 million was raised worldwide for research about the disease. This money was put towards furthering their research to find out more ways to treat and care for those suffering. No cure has been found yet, but this funding led to many more discoveries about the disease.
In late March of this year, the MIND Club organized the SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge focused on normalizing youth and young adult mental health awareness. Similar to the 2014 ASL Challenge, participants are called to dump a bucket of ice water on themselves and nominate others.
The USC Challenge donates to the Active Minds organization. The club set $500 as their original goal, not expecting it to expand beyond the USC college campus. Now, the club has managed to surpass $100,000 and continues to grow by the day.
Not only is this challenge raising funds for mental health awareness, but it’s also building a community on social media for those who may need help. Wade and the MIND Club aim to make mental health an everyday conversation, bring aid to those struggling alone and ultimately make it easier to get help to those in need.
The MIND Club took a simple challenge and now raised awareness for a worldwide issue and they are not done. This mental health movement is forming a new view about mental health and how important it is to speak up. As the trend moves across the nation, it is truly powerful to see our youth come together to unite and bring attention to the urgency of breaking the negative stigma around mental health.
Join the USC Ice Bucket Challenge!
For more information: https://www.activeminds.org
#SpeakYourMIND
