MIAMI – Anyone who has gone online, checked their Facebook feed, or looked at Twitter has seen people dumping ice water on each other and themselves, stating that it's all in the name of raising awareness for ALS, a debilitating neurodegenerative disease.
But some have criticized the ice bucket challenge as a self-glorifying act to up social media credibility.
Really, does dumping yourself with ice really help?
According to Chuck Tishgart from South Miami, it does.
Tishgart has ALS and uses a motorized wheelchair. Last week, he and his wife, Esta, sent Local 10 their own ice bucket challenge video.
"People have said to me that the ice bucket challenge is just a gimmick. But it's a gimmick that brought in over $10 million and raised awareness of ALS to people everywhere who had never heard of the disease," Tishgart wrote in an email.
The numbers seem to agree. The ALS Association reports an increase in donations. Chuck's charity of choice is the ALS Recovery Fund.
Maybe an ice cold shower can wake folks up more ways than one.