Credit Unions Help Raise Funds for ALS Research

WASHINGTONIt was just two years ago it seems every credit union in the country was caught up in the Ice Bucket Challenge, in which everyone from celebrities to politicians to CU branch managers was being doused in ice cold water as a means of raising money for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, which is terminal. Overall, approximately $115 million was raised for ALS research, according to the ALS Association. And now that same association has announced that all the money raised by credit unions and others has contributed to an important research breakthrough. The ALS Association said that $1 million went toward Project MinE, a University of Massachusetts Medical School Project that has been able to identify a gene that is responsible for the degenerative disease. The gene, identified as NEK1, provides another potential target for therapy development, and brings scientists one step closer to treating the neurological disorder, according to the ALS Association. It is the third ALS-related gene researchers have discovered using money from the Ice Bucket Challenge, the organization stated.