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Pioneers Take Part in 'Ice Bucket Challenge' for ALS Awareness
Fri Aug 22, 2014

For Immediate Release: August 21, 2014

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115

GLENVILLE, WV – Glenville State College students and staff are joining the likes of Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, former president George W. Bush, Reba McEntire, Kermit the Frog, and countless other Americans in a recent social media sensation – the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The challenge, which picked up steam earlier in the summer with the aim of raising awareness of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, and then nominating others to do the same. People can either accept the challenge, make a donation to an ALS charity of their choice, or do both.

So far dozens of current students, alumni, and staff have taken up the icy challenge.

Jesse Alborano, Tyler Cooper, Conner Ferguson, GSC Student Activities Director Jodi Ocheltree, Jamie Nutter, and Daniel Jackson taking part in the 'Ice Bucket Challenge.' The students are all members of the GSC Greek fraternity Sigma Omega Beta.

Among them was GSC's Student Activities Director Jodi Ocheltree. "After a student nominated me and one of our Greek organizations, we decided it would be fun to challenge the other student organizations on campus. We want everyone to get involved for this good cause," said Ocheltree.

GSC psychology major and Cleveland, Ohio native, John Royce, recently got called out to take part as well. "I was nominated by my fellow resident assistant and Pioneer baseball teammate Justin Lewis," said Royce. "The fact that I was a part of this movement and was able to help raise awareness is great. This is something that I'll be able to look back on and tell my kids that I was involved in. And the ice water part wasn't really that bad."

Since the end of July the ALS Association estimates that over $40 million has been raised, due largely in part to the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death. There is no cure and only one drug approved by the FDA that modestly extends survival. Veterans are approximately twice as likely be diagnosed with the disease. For more information visit the ALS Association website at www.alsa.org.

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