page_title: Ice Bucket Challenge
section_title: Shifting focus to ALS
hierarchical_section_title: Ice Bucket Challenge / History / Shifting focus to ALS
caption_attribution_description: English: Local Green Bay radio and TV personality John Maino performs the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
context_page_description: The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, was an activity involving the dumping of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and encourage donations to research. It went viral on social media during July–August 2014. In the US, many people participated for the ALS Association, and in the UK, many people participated for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, although some individuals opted to donate their money from the Ice Bucket Challenge to other organizations.
  The challenge encourages nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.
context_section_description: In the Summer 2015 edition of the ALS Association's internet magazine "Visions" (page 5) says that "It all started in Florida with a golfer named Chris Kennedy. When Kennedy took the challenge in mid-July last year, the then little-known stunt was not tied to a specific charity. Kennedy thought taking the challenge might bring some cheer to a family member with ALS, Anthony Senerchia." Next, Kennedy nominated Senerchia's wife. Soon, news of the stunt traveled to Pat Quinn, of Yonkers, NY, according to "Visions". Within two weeks, word then reached Quinn's friend Pete Frates and he took the challenge, making him the fourth person to complete the challenge for ALS. During a Boston TV interview on September 2, 2019, Frates' father implied that his family knew so much about the disease, that "he felt like he was the Nostradamus of ALS".
  The challenge first received increased media attention in the United States on June 30, 2014, when personalities of the Golf Channel program Morning Drive televised the social-media phenomenon, and performed a live, on-air Ice Bucket Challenge.
  On the same day, golfer Chris Kennedy did the challenge, then challenged his cousin Jeanette Senerchia of Pelham, New York, whose husband, Anthony, had ALS for 11 years. Kennedy's challenge was the first documented instance of the challenge being connected with ALS. At this time, the challenge was not connected directly with ALS. Participants would donate to a charity of their choice.
  Pat Quinn, who was friends on Facebook with the Senerchias, encouraged his friends to take the challenge, and soon after, Pete Frates began posting about the challenge on Twitter. Frates was awarded the Stephen Heywood Patients Today Award in 2012 for his fundraising and advocacy work. Frates' Boston College and sporting connections became an initial focus of the challenge and strengthened its focus on ALS. Both Quinn and Frates did the challenge in support of the ALS Therapy Development Institute. After its initial start with Pete Frates, a minor league baseball player diagnosed with the disease in 2012, the movement went viral in the Boston area which showed a much higher number of posts than any other area of the United States.
  In his video, Stephen Hawking declined to perform the challenge due to pneumonia the year before; however, his three children took the challenge for him.
  The President of the United States, Barack Obama, was challenged by Ethel Kennedy but declined, opting to contribute to the campaign with a donation of $100. Justin Bieber (who was criticized for not properly doing the challenge), LeBron James, and "Weird Al" Yankovic also challenged President Obama after completing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Hirohiko Araki, creator of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, created a YouTube channel and uploaded only 1 video, which was an Ice Bucket Challenge video. Former President George W. Bush completed the challenge and nominated fellow former President Bill Clinton. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, was challenged by both Alex Salmond and Russell Brand, but also declined in favor of a donation.
  Peter Frates died on December 9, 2019, at his home in Beverly, Massachusetts, at the age of 34.
caption: Green Bay local radio and TV personality John Maino performs the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
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