Center Moriches Teen Raise ALS Awareness With 'Ice Bucket Challenge'

CENTER MORICHES, NY — Center Moriches High School held a "Ride for Life" and "Ice Bucket Challenge kickoff in honor of ALS Awareness Month, the district said.

Members of the ALS Ride for Life organization visited Center Moriches High School to share their mission of raising research funds toward a cure, supporting patients and families and raising public awareness.

Later this month, the Ride for Life advocacy event will make a stop in Center Moriches.

During the "Ice Bucket Challenge," participants have a bucket of cold water poured over their head, then nominate others to do the same. The chain reaction promotes awareness of the disease and took the nation by storm when it was first practiced.

Ride for Life, which was founded in 1998 by Christopher Pendergast, who died at 71 in 2020, is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurogenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spine, as well as muscles throughout the body, making it difficult or impossible for someone with the condition to initiate control muscle movement; total paralysis can follow. The disease can be fatal.