Just about everyone knows someone who’s recently taken part in the “Ice Bucket Challenge” to raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research. However, those previous efforts may pale in comparison to the frigid drenching that many JCB employees experienced on Aug. 22.

That day, JCB offered its Savannah-area employees the chance to demonstrate their support for ALS research. Those who donated to the cause received the cold shower of a lifetime when multiple JCB backhoes doused them with enormous buckets full of icy water. The chilling event was family-owned JCB’s way of supporting Dallas Reeves, JCB’s vice president of sales, whose family has been personally affected by the devastating disease.

“My grandfather passed away from ALS,” said Dallas Reeves, JCB’s vice president of sales. “As a result, my family and I have witnessed the painful realities of this disease first-hand. I truly appreciate JCB for taking on this cause and supporting ALS sufferers and their families in the search for a cure.”

Commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Motor neurons in affected individuals continue to degenerate and die, causing the brain to lose its ability to initiate and control muscle movement. Patients in the disease’s latter stages may suffer from complete paralysis.

“Over the past few weeks, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has proved itself to be a fun and memorable way to raise money for a very good cause,” said Thom Peebles, JCB’s vice president of marketing. “I’m very proud that the JCB family is supporting Dallas and his family by helping fund much-needed research to fight a disease that’s taken so much away from so many.”

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