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Keep pouring funds into ALS after ice bucket challenge, says Sask. society

With money raised from the ice bucket challenge bringing researchers closer to understanding the cause of ALS, Saskatchewan ALS Society executive Mike Ritcher says now is not the time to put a freeze on donations.

The viral social media fundraiser, which encouraged people to videotape themselves pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads, raised $220 million for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The funding led to the discovery of that the NEK1 gene plays a significant role in the development of the disease.

Three Canadian researchers were part of the international research collaborative that made the discovery, which Ritcher said would help direct future research.

Big breakthrough

"It's quite a breakthrough because prior to this discovery, we had no idea what actually causes ALS and the majority of the research has been looking for that gene," he said.

"And with the NEK1 discovery, we are so much closer to understanding the cause of ALS."

In Canada, the ice bucket challenge resulted in more than $20 million in funding for research, which is more than ten times the amount ALS Canada usually has access to.

Ritcher said 65 per cent of the $525,000 raised in Saskatchewan went to ALS Canada for research, while the remaining 35 per cent stayed in the province to help local families.

Although he believes it will be difficult to replicate the success of the ice bucket challenge in future, he hopes the public will continue to support the Society to help it build on the recent discovery.

"A lot of our provincial societies are reporting that revenues through our mainstream fundraisers are down simply because the ice bucket challenge was such a huge success," said Ritcher.

"People feel that with all that money they don't need any more, well, research is very expensive."