At the fountain in downtown Elmhurst, there’s a girl holding on her cell phone, recording what looks like chaos: a middle school boy runs by dripping wet.

Something insane must be happening, right?

Wrong. Just another person getting ice water dumped on their head.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was started by the ALS Association, the only national non-profit organization fighting ALS on every front in America.

According to their website, prior to the viral success of the Ice Bucket Challenge only about half of Americans knew about the disease.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, affects nerve cells in the brain, specifically neurons to the spinal cord, making it incredibly difficult to control any muscle movement.

It’s described a shooting pain, similar to having ice water dumped on your head (this is where the idea for the Ice Bucket Challenge came from).

As of right now, there is no cure or treatment for ALS.

“While the monetary contributions are absolutely incredible, the real fortunate part of the Ice Bucket Challenge is the amount of awareness it has raised,” spokeswomen for the ALS Association Carrie Munk said.

It wasn’t hard to find someone at York who has participated, and many had very positive experiences.

“It was a great rush of excitement and I’m happy to help the cause,” senior Katie Diamond said. “I wanted to continue to raise awareness and participate.”

Amongst the feedback, there were some who thought improvement needed to be made to the Internet phenomenon.

“The idea is great, but it’s become more of a publicity stunt,” senior Katie Riek said. “We’ve lost touch with what’s really important.”

As of late August, the ALS association reported receiving $100 million, compared to this time last year, $2.4 million. These numbers increase every day.

The ALS Association is hopeful to use these contributions to eventually find a cure to the disease.