BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The 2015 Buffalo Walk to Defeat ALS Saturday morning saw close to 1,000 people taking a lap around Delaware Park and a bucket of water to the face, as the Ice Bucket Challenge kicked off for a second year.

The internet craze took the world by storm last summer where people lined up with buckets, doused themselves with ice and water, and laughed throughout it all. The Ice Bucket Challenge raises funds and awareness for the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

"About mid-August we started receiving online donations and they came so fast and furious they actually shut down the system,” said Kathy Lahey, ALS Association of Upstate NY executive eirector.

At the Buffalo Walk to Defeat ALS Saturday, the viral trend continued as hundreds of people splashed themselves for the official launch of the 2015 campaign. Last year's Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million for the ALS Association nationwide. Sixty-seven percent of that went toward research including three labs working together to find treatments and a project aimed at expediting clinical trials. Money also supports scholarships to encourage young scientists to pursue a research career.

Mike Maloney, diagnosed with the disease 3 years ago, said he originally fell into a depression but eventually turned to advocacy. He said he's blown away by the challenge's success.

"What it represented is hope. With this disease there's very little hope. So very little what you can really do,” Maloney said. “What we're doing in bringing awareness (is) absolutely phenomenal."

ALS degenerates motor neurons that travel from the brain to spinal cord and muscles throughout the body. People with the disease may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. With no cure or treatment currently available, Maloney said research and education are crucial.

"This disease is such a mystery. With cancer, AIDS, with so many other diseases we've been able to make a difference. Research, finding a cure, finding some hope,” Maloney said.

"The words is on the street that ALS is a disease that needs to be conquered. The only way we're going to be able to do that is if people remember and still help us out by spreading the word," said Lahey.

The Association said  it will continue the campaign this August, and every August, until there's a cure.