Funds flood in, thanks to Ice Bucket Challenge

A center that carries out research into rare diseases has received a huge financial boost from the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Former NBA star Yao Ming takes the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Saturday at the NBA Yao School in Beijing.

The global craze, which was launched to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has attracted widespread support across the country.

As of Friday, the challenge had raised more than 8.5 million yuan ($1.38 million) for the China-Dolls Center for Rare Disorders, a nonprofit organization. The center received only 2 million yuan in the whole of last year. Participants are asked to either drench themselves in ice water or donate to ALS research.

5 family members get ALS; 3 have died

Five members, suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with three dying from it, according to Chutian Metropolis Daily. The disease, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, has drawn global attention through a social media campaign in which people pour ice water over themselves or others to raise money for research. Wang Yu, an alias, of Wuhan died on Friday, and was the third member of her family to die of the disease. The disease previously caused the deaths of her father and elder sister. Wang's baby sister and cousin have also been diagnosed with ALS.

Protesters buck ice bucket trend

With the ice bucket challenge trending across China, people in a severe drought-hit area in Central China's Henan province stood out against the mania with empty buckets and containers, shouting “We want water” in front of a statue of Buddha. Henan is experiencing its worst drought since 1951.

Protesters asked people to use sensible means to help patients of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The Ice Bucket Challenge was initiated to raise funds for ALS research.