Joshua Rogers | Photo from GoFundMe.com

Most Ice Bucket Challenge videos throw down the gauntlet to individuals and groups to pour icy buckets of water over their heads or make a nice donation to the ALS Association.

One Kane County community is making the challenge just a little bit more personal, with a fundraiser for Joshua Rogers, a 16-year-old Aurora student battling Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ALS, sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. When the motor neurons  die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost.

According to a city of Aurora press release, Joshua is one of the youngest people ever diagnosed with the disease. At 18, the former basketball player relies on leg braces and a wheel chair for sustained  mobility. He is need of additional medications, protein shakes, and exercise equipment.

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner will be taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge along with a handful of local leaders and media, including East Aurora Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Popp, Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas, Aurora Fire Department Assistant Chief Don Davids, Chief Community Services Officer Dan Barreiro, AHA Executive Director Keith Gregory, Chicago Sun-Times Senior Columnist Denise Crosby and others.

The Joshua Rogers ALS Fundraiser will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Luigi’s Pizza and Fun Center, 732 Prairie St., Aurora.

Online donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/joshuarogersALS

Just what is ALS?

ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. Ending the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, the disease is still most closely associated with his name. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons  die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.