Showing what a simple bucket of ice water can do, while donations to the ALS Association last year at this time reached $2.5 million, they've exceeded $70 million this year, thanks to the viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser.

According to an association news release, as of Sunday, Aug. 24, the nonprofit had received $70.2 million, raised since July 29, from both existing donors and 1.3 million new donors.

The ALS Association's mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS -- or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- and their families through a network of community chapters working across the nation and a global research program aimed at finding better treatments and, eventually, a cure for the disease.

In addition, the association's efforts seek to empower people to advance public policies in Washington, D.C. that respond to the needs of people with ALS.

The ALS Association announced on its Website that it is "incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from those people who have been doused, made a donation, or both. Contributions further The Association's mission to find treatments and a cure for ALS while funding the highest quality of care for people living with the disease."

With only about half of the general public knowledgeable about ALS, the Ice Bucket Challenge is making a profound difference, noted Barbara Newhouse, ALS Association president and CEO.

"We have never seen anything like this in the history of the disease," Newhouse said in a statement. "We couldn't be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative."

Where the idea of dumping cold water on one's head to raise money for charity are isn't widely known, though it's been attributed to multiple sources.

From mid-2013 to early 2014, another challenge often called the "Cold Water Challenge" became popular on social media in areas of the northern United States, that task usually involving the option of either donating money to cancer research or jumping into cold water, such as a freezing lake.

Currently, there is only one drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat ALS, and that only modestly extends survival by two to three months. As a result, ALS is 100 percent fatal.

Along with dealing the challenges that come with losing control of voluntary muscle movement, people with the disease also progressively lose their ability to eat, speak, walk and eventually breathe.

"While the monetary donations are absolutely incredible, the visibility that this disease is getting as a result of the challenge is truly invaluable. People who have never before heard of ALS are now engaged in the fight against the disease," said Newhouse. "With more people aware and more people engaged in the fight against ALS, we are not only poised to work collaboratively with other ALS organizations but also with pharmaceutical companies and academia to expedite new treatments for people impacted by the disease."