Ice Bucket Challenge kicks off in Garden City

Jen Cowart
Posted 8/13/15

It was under warm skies that the Rhode Island chapter of the ALS Association kicked off its chilly 2015 Ice Bucket Challenge in Garden City Center last week.

Members of the local Board of …

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Ice Bucket Challenge kicks off in Garden City

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It was under warm skies that the Rhode Island chapter of the ALS Association kicked off its chilly 2015 Ice Bucket Challenge in Garden City Center last week.

Members of the local Board of Directors, chapter staff and local families touched by ALS participated in the large group event held at the gazebo. Peter Frates and Pat Quinn, both of whom have ALS, started the Ice Bucket Challenge last summer, and Quinn renewed the fight again this August, vowing to renew it each August until a cure is found.

“Last year this challenge raised over $100 million plus, in just one year,” said John Pagliarini, president of the Board of Directors for the ALS Association’s Rhode Island chapter. “Unfortunately, that is just a drop in the bucket for what it takes to get a new drug on the market. The cost of research and development, to getting the drug to a patient’s bedside is between $2 and $3 billion. We live in a society where in the last two months, we have just sent an explorer to Pluto. If we can do that, we can find a cure for this disease that has haunted us since the 1860s.”

Palgiarini stated that at any one time in the United States, there are 30,000 people affected with ALS, and noted that the Ice Bucket Challenge is a great way to add visibility and awareness to the fight for a cure for the disease.

“Many times drug companies don’t see the benefit of finding a cure for something that ‘only’ affects a small percentage of people,” he said, “But it’s such an inhumane disease, and we need to find a cure.”

The kickoff took place at 6:30 p.m., and participants also had the chance to sign up for the “Walk to Defeat ALS.” There were snacks and prizes available as well, with food and beverages donated by Shaw’s market.

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