NWN renews ALS fight with event featuring Pete Frates film reading

By the Editorial Team · Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Boston-based IT company NWN has renewed its support for ALS awareness by sponsoring events commemorating Pete Frates, including a Fenway Park anniversary and a live reading of a screenplay about his life. These initiatives aim to sustain public engagement and fundraising efforts for ALS research while promoting a potential film adaptation to further honor Frates's impact.

Nearly seven years after the death of Pete Frates, whose battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) helped spark the viral "Ice Bucket Challenge," efforts to raise awareness and funds for the disease continue. Boston-based information technology provider NWN is once again supporting initiatives to renew public engagement with the cause.

Andrew Gilman, chief marketing officer at NWN, described how the company began working with Frates’s family and writer Casey Sherman about four years ago. Their goal was to revive attention to the Ice Bucket Challenge, which initially gained widespread traction a decade ago when Frates, along with Pat Quinn and others, propelled the fundraising campaign into a global phenomenon.

In 2024, NWN helped sponsor an anniversary event at Fenway Park, where Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy took part. This followed NWN’s previous involvement in sponsoring a Pete Frates exhibit installed at TD Garden’s Sports Museum in 2023.

Most recently, NWN backed a live reading of Sherman’s screenplay about Frates’s life. The script is based on a book Sherman co-wrote with Dave Wedge. The event took place on Monday evening at the Willowbend Golf Club in Mashpee and was hosted by comedian Lenny Clarke. Sherman hopes the reading will raise both donations and broader awareness for the Pete Frates Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting ALS initiatives. Sherman is currently seeking studios and directors interested in adapting the story for film.

Gilman emphasized the importance of sustaining public interest to continue raising funds and honoring Frates’s legacy. “It’s important that we find new ways to engage in the community to keep the fight in the forefront and to continue to raise funds…and to keep Pete’s memory alive,” he said. “This is the beginning of a Hollywood moment for something that inspired the world when it first came out 12 years ago.” The ongoing efforts reflect a commitment to maintaining momentum in the search for treatments and ultimately a cure for ALS.

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