Remember the days when it felt like everyone was dousing themselves with buckets of ice water? The ubiquitous #IceBucketChallenge went viral in 2014 to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Now, over a decade later, you might want to cue up Vanilla Ice, because the buckets of ice are back, baby.
While the chilly challenge is the same — dump ice water on your head and tag others to do the same — the mission this time is to bring attention to mental health. MIND, a mental health club at the University of South Carolina, started the #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge last month to raise awareness and funds for Active Minds, the largest nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to changing the stigma around mental health in youth and young adults.
Wade Jefferson, the founder of MIND — which stands for Mental Illness Needs Discussion — said in a March 31 Instagram video that the club believes “conversations about mental health should be just as common and just as comfortable as conversations about physical health.” Its primary goals are to normalize discussions about mental health, create supportive communities, and advocate for suicide prevention.
Those goals align perfectly with the mission behind Active Minds, which focuses on opening the door for young people to generate dialogue around mental health. The org, also founded on a college campus, was created by then-University of Pennsylvania student Alison Malmon, whose only sibling, Brian, ended his life in 2000 after emotionally isolating due to mental health conditions. “After my brother’s death, and knowing how preventable it was, I resolved — no matter what — to do something to change the way we approach mental health in this country,” Malmon said on Active Minds’ website.
In addition to dousing themselves in frigid water, challenge participants are encouraged to donate to Active Minds, then nominate their friends to get in on the (freezing) fun within 24 hours. Since Jefferson posted the challenge video, the movement has gained traction across the country, with everyone from USC’s head football coach, Shane Beamer, to influencer @haleyybaylee taking part (the latter racked up over 2 million likes on her TikTok post). And it’s gaining steam in pop culture as well, with Today show co-host Jenna Bush Hager and actor Matt Bomer making charitable splashes.
The 2014 challenge raised an “unprecedented $115 million for ALS research, care, and advocacy,” per a press release from the ALS Association. And 10 years later, research from a 2024 report showed that “the funds raised by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have dramatically accelerated ALS research, improved access to care for people living with ALS, and increased government support for ALS programs,” the release noted. Now, the #SpeakYourMIND movement hopes to generate similar momentum, with the goal of raising $250,000 for Active Minds. As of April 22, the campaign had come close, hitting just over $247,000 in donations.
As for the ALS Association, there’s nothing but support for the reimagined trend: “We’re thrilled to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live on in new forms of activism,” the nonprofit said in a statement, adding: “We applaud efforts to raise awareness for causes like mental health — an issue that also affects the ALS community in profound ways.”
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