The ALS patient who helped dream up the viral Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser was in the Hudson Valley to encourage more funding for the disease.

Pat Quinn, a Yonkers native, visited Rep. Nita Lowey in White Plains to help encourage lawmakers to increase funding for ALS research. They were joined by ALS patient Charles Braunfeld, who has lost the ability to move and speak because of the disease.

Quinn later visited Woodlands High School to help its football team take the chilly plunge to raise money for ALS research.

"I could never imagine the ice bucket would bring ALS to the tip of the tongue of everyone," says Quinn. "But it's here and I couldn't be happier."