Pete Frates' family celebrates 10 years of raising money through ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
BOSTON – Family members of the late Pete Frates are honoring his memory on Thursday and throughout the month of August as they mark the 10th anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge.
In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge became a viral sensation as people around the globe challenged each other to dump a bucket of ice water on their head and donate money to ALS research.
The challenge was started by Massachusetts resident and Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with the disease.
Frates died in 2019, but his family has continued raising money through the Pete Frates Family Foundation.
A host of celebrity guests took part in an Ice Bucket Challenge on Thursday at Fenway Park.
Former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, Bruins legend Ray Bourque and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey were among those at the event.
In the last 10 years, the Frates family has helped raise more than $220 million for ALS research.
John Frates, Pete's father, said the money raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge helped lead to an additional $1 billion in spending on ALS research.
"It was really just an awareness campaign. And then it morphed into a fundraiser. And what a massive fundraiser, $220 million worldwide," John Frates said. "He told his doctor that he would get the billion dollars. I laughed in his face because we're a modest family, how is this going to happen? And sure enough as I'm standing here today, they just announced on billion."
In the years since Pete Frates' death, his family has continued to raise money through various fundraisers.
The Frates family continues its "Every August until a cure" mantra, bringing back the Ice Bucket Challenge starting Thursday.
"You did help us. So now we're back to remind you that you got us started, we're working towards a cure, we're not there yet, so stick with us," Nancy Frates said. "We're sticking with his mission. And his mission was to find a cure."
The Pete Frates Family Foundation provides grants for people living with ALS to help them pay for out of pocket home health care expenses.