For many participants, the latest charity craze is just a bit of fun.
But when Charlotte Ashfield took on the ice bucket challenge to raise cash for the fight against motor neurone disease, it was personal.
Her father has been living with the condition for almost a decade, with the disease claiming his voice.
The video of Charlotte being doused in freezing water won a Mail competition to find East Yorkshire's best challenge – not because it featured diggers, drag or nudity, but due to her dad Barry's smiling eyes as he watched.
"It's not even about the donations – it's about people knowing what's going on," said Charlotte, 28.
"There's no cure whatsoever – it's just managing it the best you can.
"There's no genetic background to it, it's just one of those absolutely random things that can happen to you. It's a horrible illness."
Barry, 68, worked with computers before the disease made it impossible.
The disease numbed his body muscles first and spread from there.
"It affected all his left side," Charlotte said.
"His arm would hang, his neck would fall.
"He couldn't feed himself or undress himself."
It also damaged his immune system, leading to him contracting pneumonia near Christmas last year.
He spent months at Hull Royal Infirmary and is now slowly recovering at his home in Hessle.
However, Barry must permanently use a ventilator as a consequence of the latest onslaught.
His lungs too weak to overcome the machine, the attack robbed him of the power to talk, walk or swallow.
Cared for by his devoted wife Trudy, children and heath professionals, Barry now communicates with others through looks alone.
The family is hoping to get a high-tech system that will speak for Barry by the end of the year.
"Because of the lack of muscles, he can't speak past the ventilator," said Charlotte, who lives with her parents.
"He's got quite good at doing facial expressions and if worst comes to worst, we can use an ABC chart."
Barry got home a few weeks ago and is in better spirits.
But with the world largely ignorant of motor neurone disease, the family has had to rely on its own strength to get by.
So the ice bucket challenge was an opportunity to Charlotte.
With others finally taking notice of the devastating impact of the condition, she felt the urge to get involved.
She was nominated to take part by former Homebase colleague Adele Grieveson and leapt at the chance to raise awareness.
"I was really looking forward to it," she said.
"We're not very public, it's not what we're all about, but I asked dad and he was fine to be in the video.
"I got home from work and the guy who poured water over me was one of my dad's carers who came in on his day off."
The shock of being soaked in cold water is a bit like the disease itself, Charlotte said.
Participants gasp as the ice hits them, feeling, for a second, the struggle to breathe that victims face every day.
"That moment when you have a bucket of cold water chucked over you, that intake of breath is what they're going through all day, every day," Charlotte said.
The challenge has so far raised more than £48m to fight motor neurone disease but, for many, it is also a chance for a laugh.
Only a few, like Charlotte, know the massive difference that money could make.
• The Mail is donating £100 to the Hull and East Yorkshire Group of the Motor Neurone Disease Association at Charlotte's request.
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