Wildcats respond to ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

MARQUETTE – The Northern Michigan University football team is the latest group to join in on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Although it made for a chilling afternoon, players were excited to do something bigger than themselves.

“Coach talked to us. He was like, ‘Hey! You six guys are going to do this Cold Water Challenge with me. I’m not doing it by myself,'” noted Nick Krause, a Senior Linebacker for the Wildcats. “It ended up being the whole team that got involved. Seeing that team together like that – getting all hyped and seeing that – it was awesome.”

In addition to his wife, Coach Ostrowsky passed the torch on to NMU Head Hockey Coach, Walt Kyle, who took things to the next level by dumping 50 gallons on himself and his son Walter.

The international fundraising effort has taken the internet by storm over the past few weeks, prompting celebrities like Bill Gates and Peyton Manning to get involved. It initially began as a social media trend, a follow up to the Cold Water Challenge, but the New York Times reports that it all changed when Pete Frates took the challenge. Frates is a former college baseball player who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and he wanted to make the challenge about more than an Internet trend.

The gist of it is those who have been challenged have 24 hours to dump a bucket of ice water over their head or donate $100 to the ALS Association. Since Frates, the Ice Bucket Challenge has exploded and has resulted in over 10 million dollars being raised for the ALS Association. Even if not everyone donates, celebrities with widely reached audiences like Jimmy Fallon, Lena Dunham and Taylor Swift have helped raise significant awareness for the cause.

The ALS Association reports that as of this morning, $15.6 million have been raised since July 29 as opposed to $1.8 million during the same time period last year.