Remember the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” of 2014? Over a decade later, it’s back—but this time, the focus is mental health.
If you were living under a rock in 2014, the challenge involved participants pouring ice water over themselves, posting the video to social media, and nominating others to join in, all while raising awareness for a cause. The campaign raised millions for ALS research. Now, it’s making a comeback—this time to support Active Minds, a nonprofit promoting mental health awareness and education for students.
The Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club’s #SpeakYourMIND campaign launched on Instagram in March, started by a group of students at the University of South Carolina. According to a 2024 U.S. News survey, about 70% of students have struggled with mental health since starting college.
Wade Jefferson, a USC junior, told NBC News he founded the MIND club after losing two friends to suicide. He hopes the campaign will help normalize conversations around mental health. Initially setting a fundraising goal of $500, he didn’t expect the challenge to go viral again.
At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $189,056 in donations and drawn participation from high-profile figures like TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager, who nominated stars like Blake Shelton and Scarlett Johansson to keep the trend alive.
It’s also earned a nod from the challenge’s original creators. “We’re thrilled to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live on in new forms of activism,” the ALS Association said in a statement to NBC News.
At its peak, the original challenge saw everyone from former President George W. Bush to Oprah Winfrey joining in. “I think fundraising professionals and nonprofits and causes have sat around tables for years trying to say, ‘What’s going to be our ice bucket challenge,’” Brett Curtis, director of community fundraising and events at Active Minds, told NBC News. “I do think there’s a little irony in that it is just the ice bucket challenge again, this time to talk about mental health.”
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