Special Children’s Art Display wants to recognize Pete Frates on #GivingTuesday. He is the inspiration behind the sensational Ice bucket challenge for ALS awareness that has raised millions of dollars. With Pete's strong mindset and supportive family and friends, Team Frate Train is unstoppable. A former captain of the Boston College baseball team and a history major has himself made history and has motivated millions of people for giving to the community. Pete’s current condition is not at all slowing him down from pursuing his mission of raising ALS awareness. Thank you John Frates (Pete’s father) for answering interview questions on Pete's behalf.

How did you get the idea for “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge”? What was your and your family’s reaction when it went viral? What role has social media played in raising awareness?P:  The idea for the Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC) had been around the internet for about a year before Pat Quinn, a fellow PALS (patient of ALS) and Pete's friend, tagged him in late July, 2014 to pass the ALS IBC on to his large network of family, friends and current and former pro sports athletes. It was picked up by Channel 5 in Boston when a few guys from the Boston Bruins and New England Patriots posted their own videos that mentioned Pete and challenged other high profile athletes. We assumed that would be the extent of the story and was shocked and amazed when it began to go viral on our Facebook news feeds. Social media was the catalyst and the perfect vehicle for what turned out to be the largest viral sensation in history, not only as an awareness campaign for an unknown, orphan disease, but also would become the largest global fund raising campaign ever.

Your methods to raise awareness for ALS, especially “Ice Bucket Challenge”, have been very successful. To what do you attribute the success of your methods?P: Ever since Pete's diagnosis in March, 2012, our family has been thrust into educating ourselves and as many people as we could influence on the most misunderstood, underfunded and devastating of all terminal diseases...ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. We had a strong leader with a clear vision, a compelling story of a young strong college Division 1 baseball player struck down at 27 years old with a deadly diagnosis and a powerful network of talented, committed family and friends that constantly promoted ALS awareness in every way possible.

How important is the support of family and friends for your cause? Do you want to share any memorable moment about the Ice bucket challenge?P: Our ability to raise awareness for ALS is directly attributable to Pete's family, amazing network of friends and the ability to act and react quickly as the Ice Bucket went nationally then globally. One of the most memorable moments for us was to listen to Pete belly laugh again as we all watched video after video, sharing, liking, tagging and commenting for the first several days. Finally, after another long day around our computers, we decided it had gone to heights we could no longer comprehend and we just began to watch in utter amazement.

You have done a remarkable job at raising awareness for ALS. What motivates you to keep doing more?P: The only reason we are tenacious at continuing our family's mission to raise ALS, is that the disease is relentless in it's devastation on our son and all others suffering from this Beast that has no known treatment or cure.

Can you tell us more about your upcoming event, "Plunge 4 Pete | December 27, 2015”? How many people usually participate in this event?P: The 4th Annual Plunge 4 Pete is the perfect vehicle to not only raise awareness, have fun and socialize with loved ones, it may be one of the largest in the country. Last year, over 650 plungers were shown jumping into the icy waters off Gloucester, MA on live TV by ESPN. It all began as a way to celebrate Pete's birthday on 12/28 and it has been a huge success. It definitely separates the men from the boys compared to dumping a bucket of ice water on your head in August!

Which philanthropist inspires you the most? What did you learn from him/her?P: Bill Gates is the one philanthropist that Pete has admired the most and said early on in his diagnosis that he would like to get our cause in front of him some how, some way. When Mr Gates posted one of the most powerful and creative IBC videos, we as a family were simply astounded.

Who is your favorite baseball player? Do you want to share your experience as the captain of the Boston College Eagles?P: Pete's favorite baseball player is David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, as he always loved graceful and strong left handed power hitter like himself. When we remodeled his childhood bedroom, he had posters of Ken Griffey Jr and Will Clark on his walls. As the 2007 captain of the BC Eagles, Pete now had the chance to mentor, motivate and lead by example all the same values he would now use in the campaign to Strike Out ALS.

What is your favorite place to visit and why?P: Pete loves to boat and fish, so he was always in his happy place on the open ocean.

Any special message for our community?P: Pete would always end every speech with the following affirmation that is the essence for the success of his viral campaign: Be Passionate, Be Genuine, Be Hard Working.... And don't be afraid to be Great!