The family of Pat Quinn—Yonkers native and co-founder of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—along with Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, announced plans to host the 2025 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Saturday, Aug. 2, at Yonkers Raceway.
Community members of all ages are invited to participate in this free event, which supports the hundreds of thousands of individuals living with ALS. The challenge is recognized as the largest simultaneous Ice Bucket Challenge in the world. Festivities will begin at noon, with the main event scheduled for 1:30 p.m. While walk-up registration will be available on the day of the event, advance online registration is strongly encouraged to guarantee a space and a bucket. Participants can pre-register at YonkersNY.gov/IBC.
Quinn founded the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, shortly after being diagnose with ALS in 2013, when he was 30 years old. The concept quickly grew in popularity around the world, with more than 17 million people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads and challenging others to do so on social media.
While Quinn died from ALS in November 2020, the impact he made through the Ice Bucket Challenge lives on. Since it was first established, the event has been a catalyst for raising awareness and funds to support the research and search for a cure to ALS. The challenge has also recently inspired the #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge to support mental health, which has recently gone viral.
Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts has been holding the event each year since 2015, with the exception of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Every year, the City of Yonkers provides buckets and a stage for the event and organizes online registration for those who wish to participate. The cost of the event is underwritten by Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts, who also provide the space, staffing and more than 1,300 pounds of ice.
“For over a decade, Yonkers has proudly carried Pat Quinn’s legacy forward,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said. “Each year, I witness an extraordinary outpouring of love and determination in his name. His unwavering fight against ALS has sparked hope, and because of him, we stand stronger in our resolve. But our work is far from over. ALS continues to devastate countless families, and we owe it to them to keep pushing forward. As long as this battle persists, so too will our commitment—every August, alongside our dedicated partners at Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts, we will stand together until we find a cure.”
Pat Quinn’s father, Patrick Quinn Sr., will lead this year’s Ice Bucket Challenge from trackside at Yonkers Raceway. His nonprofit organization, the Quinn for the Win Find Your Smile Foundation (“Quinn for the Win”), continues to carry forward Pat’s legacy, making a lasting impact in the fight against ALS. In addition to organizing the annual Ice Bucket Challenge, the foundation hosts various fundraising events throughout the year.
Quinn for the Win provides direct financial assistance to families affected by ALS, offering cash grants to help cover medical costs not reimbursed by insurance. These include expenses such as in-home care, adaptive equipment, wheelchair modifications, and home renovations to improve accessibility. The organization also offers financial support to other groups that serve ALS patients and their families.
“I’m so grateful for the continued support of Mayor Mike Spano, Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts and community members from Yonkers and far beyond who continue to fight onwards toward a cure through keeping the ice bucket challenge going each and every year,” Quinn Sr. said. “It was a once in a lifetime phenomenon that took on a life of its own. The Yonkers community has been the champion of our family and ALS patients nationwide, especially in the last few years without Pat. My son built such a strong system of support and his Quinn for the Win – Find Your Smile Foundation is nothing short of remarkable. Pat laid the groundwork to find a cure, and now it’s our job to finish his mission. I look forward to seeing everyone on Aug. 2.”
ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The disease impacts hundreds of thousands of Americans. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 5,000 Americans are diagnosed with ALS each year.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has made a profound impact by playing a major role in increasing the public’s awareness of the disease. The ALS Association awarded over $2 million in grants to support the preclinical development of five emerging ALS therapies earlier in 2025.
Technological advancements have already been made to assist those with ALS since the Ice Bucket Challenge was created. Pat Quinn Jr. was a beneficiary himself, as he used one of the first prototypes of an expanded CPAP machine to help expand his lungs and make breathing easier. Just last year, UC Davis Health created brain-computer interface technology capable of translating brain signals into speech with high levels of accuracy. This made it easier for those with ALS to communicate with others.
