Pete Frates, Red Sox Relaunch ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
BOSTON (CBS) – Last summer, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took the world by storm. Now, the viral fundraising campaign is relaunching.
On Friday afternoon, Beverly native Pete Frates and co-founder Pat Quinn were at Fenway Park as the Red Sox became the first Major League Baseball team to celebrate the return of the Ice Bucket Challenge.
All 30 MLB teams will participate in the return of the campaign this August.
Frates was the inspiration for the Ice Bucket Challenge last summer as people around the world helped raise more than $115 million for ALS research.
The concept was a simple one. Participants posted videos of themselves pouring buckets of ice water over their head on social media. After making a donation to ALS research, participants challenged three other people to keep the ball rolling.
With Boston as its epicenter thanks to Frates, the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral. Celebrities, athletes and people around the world participated, and donations rolled in.
From June 1 to August 17 of last year, more than 28 million users were talking about the challenge on Facebook and during that time frame, 2.4 million Ice Bucket Challenge videos were shared on Facebook.
The spread of the campaign originated in the northeast, specifically in the Boston area.
Earlier this month, Pete Frates' wife Julie told WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben about plans to bring the Ice Bucket Challenge back every August until a cure for ALS is found.
"I'm very excited to see how people will top last year's videos," Julie Frates told Ebben. "I have a feeling people will get pretty creative this summer. I think I'm pretty excited to see that. Hopefully that will entice people to take part again."
For more information on how to participate, visit the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge website.
