By now your Facebook page has been filled with videos of friends (and celebrities) getting doused with buckets of ice water. Maybe you've even been dared to pour a bucket of water over your own head.
While in South Florida this may sound like a refreshing (though extreme) way of keeping cool during a steamy August afternoon, it's actually the Ice Bucket Challenge, a fundraising stunt that went viral sometime this summer. Though the challenge has been around for a while, the ALS Association, the main beneficiary of monies raised by this challenge, credits 29 year-old Pete Frates from Beverly, Massachusetts for making the mere act of pouring a bucket of freezing water on your head a sensation. Frates, a former Division 1 college athlete with Boston College baseball, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gherig's Disease, in 2012 and has dedicated his time to spreading awareness of the disease since.
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Although the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge looks like a stunt, reminiscent of the days of flagpole sitting and goldfish swallowing, there is a major golden lining. The ALS Association has reported receiving $22.5 million in donation directly attributed to the challenge in less than one month. That's compared to $1.9 million raised during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 19).
So, silly or not, challenging a friend to pour a bucket of ice water on their heads is making a difference in helping raise charitable contributions. Besides, we enjoy watching a good dousing -- especially when our favorite celebrity chefs are in on the fun.
Watch these five celebrity chefs get wet while they raise money and awareness for charity. Awesome!
Guy Fieri got an industrial-sized dose of ice water when he accepted the ice bucket challenge. He was challenged by DJ Irie and Carnival Cruise Lines. Fieri, in turn, challenged cake maker Duff Goldman, Oakland Raider Marcel Reece, and chef Michael Symon.
Domestic goddess Martha Stewart was challenged by Matt Lauer. She accepted at a salon, since she was getting her hair done, anyway. Stewart, in turn, challenged three more "goddesses": Gwyneth Paltrow; Blake Lively, and Ellen DeGeneres.
Rachael's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! from Rachael Ray on Vimeo.
Rachael Ray allowed herself to be doused with ice water in memory of her Grandma-in-law Millie, who passed from the disease. Ray, in a little black dress, gives a shout-out to her gram in the video.
Mario Batalli accepted the Michelin Guide's challenge somewhere on a tropical island.
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The entire Deen family accepted the ALS ice bucket challenge. Watch Paula, Bobby, and Jamie all get doused by Home Depot paint gallons of ice for charity in Savannah.
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