[Whitfield:] It has been a fund-raising phenomenon. The ALS ice bucket challenged has raked in $94 million and counting in just over a month. That's 34 times higher compared to this time last year. And it has also brought new awareness to a devastating disease. Elizabeth Cohen shows us why this fund-raiser has been so successful.
[Elizabeth Cohen, Cnn Senior Medical Correspondent:] Superman and Lois Lane got dosed, so did Homer Simpson, Matt Damon, Martha Stewart. This guy did it in an airplane upside down. In just one month, the ice bucket challenge has generated $100 million. As of Friday, the ALS association says donations are up an astonishing 3,504 percent from the same time period last year. And while you can say that's hashtag amazing, there's a worry that these expectations may be disappointed because even with all this money, a cure for ALS is still a long way off.
[Phil Buchanan, President, Center For Effective Philanthropy:] Progress against these tough issues takes patience and it takes time but we're not going to see results overnight and nobody should expect that.
[Cohen:] Phil Buchanan is president of the center for effective philanthropy, he says that donors want to see quick results and they want to know where their money is going right away.
[Buchanan:] There will be a temptation that to give it away quickly but it might to be more deliberate, see what shows that evidence of success, and then it only then fund that in a bigger way.
[Cohen:] Why is there pressure to distribute it quickly?
[Buchanan:] I think donors may just have an expectation that it's simpler than it is.
[Cohen:] The ALS association doesn't have a breakdown yet of how all of the ice bucket money will be spent and it acknowledged spending pressures directly in a statement this week saying this isn't a matter of spending these dollars quickly. It's a matter of investing these dollars prudently to achieve maximum impact in our quest to help people living with the disease and those yet to be diagnosed. And while a cure may not come overnight, at least for now more and more money is. With ice bucket challenge donations now averaging $9 million per day.
[Unidentified Female:] Charity ALS. Donate.
[Cohen:] Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, reporting.
[Whitfield:] A portion of the money being raised is going to research and right now there are treatments that help some ALS suffers. As Elizabeth Cohen mentioned, there's still no cure for the disease. I want to bring in a great friend here, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has her own personal story about battling ALS. Her mom has been battling for the last several years. She is joining me right now from Washington. Good to see you.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn National Correspondent:] And you know, it's great to see you, Fred. And I have to thank you and CNN. We're grateful as a family that we were able to do the three-part series last year on ALS before it became popular. I mean, this is something that two and a half ago years ago when my mom was diagnosed with this disease, I didn't even know what it was. And now, people come up to us and up to my mom. They ask how can we help and what can we do and they are learning about what this means for so many of us who are directly impacted.
[Whitfield:] And you know, you have really helped educate so many people about it and along the way, especially with this ice bucket challenge, it has been a plight that you have talked about for you, for your mom, but really your whole family. And so, we want to show how your whole family got involved in this ice bucket challenge.
[Malveaux:] My mom was diagnosed with ALS two and a half years ago and she is still in the fight. If you would like more information about our story, please go Malveauxmission.org. We're also challenging Wanda Sykes
[Whitfield:] That's great. All in the family there. So give us an idea of, a, how is your mom doing and b, what has it been like for your family, you know, especially as of recently?
[Malveaux:] Sure. Sure, Fred. I mean, I want to thank my niece, Naila, to bringing that together. It was difficult to get us all together. And I do want to know all three people we challenged did accept and they'll do it. We tweeted out Wanda Sykes and Angie Harman. So that was great bringing a lot of awareness here. You know, you saw last year, Fred, it's been a real challenge for my mother. She loved to dance. Very social. Always very active. This was fast moving and hard hitting. She now has 24-hour care. A great team of caregivers and my father and my sister who has been taking good care of her. And this disease has robbed her of almost all of her physical abilities. She has feelings and emotions inside. So when her friends and when we come around and we spend time with her. She says with her eyes I love that you're here. I love you. This is a good thing for us to all be together. But you can imagine how difficult that would be for someone.
[Whitfield:] And these are beautiful pictures. But there is more we want to share with people. It kind of, you know,
[Unidentified Male:] Your mother was in the end stage of ALS. She would have moved into a coma and she would have died within a few days.
[Malveaux:] Instead mom chose an extraordinary life saving measure to get a tracheotomy. A tube hooked to a machine that would force air into her lungs and breathe for her. A game changer. It would be nine weeks in the hospital learning how to care for her before mom would be able to come home on life support.
[Unidentified Female:] Breaking out. Getting out of here. Good luck.
[Malveaux:] Her journey is bringing us closer together and changing us as a family.
[Unidentified Male:] I learned I have inner strength I didn't think I had.
[Malveaux:] Mom's message to all of us, be strong.
[Whitfield:] It has brought your family closer together. And then, by the way, folks may have notice they haven't see you in a little bit. So your family has grown. You're now a mother yourself with the new addition. How has that brightened your mom's eyes too.
[Malveaux:] You know, it's so wonderful, Fred. I'm so glad you asked me about that. Because she's a grandmother all over again. And you know, they spend so much time together just mesmerized by each other. You know, they sit together. They watch. She brings a new life, a new energy into our family, which is really very welcome. You know, I wanted to emphasize again, you know, this is something where over the last two, two and a half years she lost her ability to speak, to eat and breathe on her mother and move on her own. And so, when you have something that gives you that kind of energy and a boost, it's so welcomed. It's something that we really need. And it's good to be back, Fred. It's good to see you as well. And for all of those supporting ALS, it doesn't matter where you contribute if it's MDA, the ALS association, we decided to do placard to support research. But as long as people are talking about this and paying attention to this, it really does gives hope to my mom and many others who have been personally impacted by this.
[Whitfield:] Well, you were so courageously have helped raised awareness. Of course, we wish your mom the best. Always thinking of her. And you know, little kisses to
[Malveaux:] My God. And no sleep.
[Whitfield:] That will go on forever. I still got that. Operating without sleep. I think it's forever until maybe the kids go off to college. I don't know. Maybe that's a new worry after that. But hey, I'm here for you. Good to see you. Welcome back. And of course, you can go to Suzanne's ALS Web site. It is Malveauxmission.org. All right the frantic effort to stop Ebola has forced quarantines in regions of West Africa. Next, a CNN crew takes us inside the quarantine zone and shows us what daily life is like for people paralyzed by fear of this deadly virus.