An endurance challenge, a cherry picker and a myasthenia gravis diagnosis
Gina Pieroni’s passion for MDA fundraising started with an endurance challenge, a cherry picker and desire to help others.
Category: Fundraising & Events
“Joe Akmakjian: National Ambassador” Season One Recap
Joe Akmakjian had a whirl wind year serving as MDA’s first adult National Goodwill Ambassador! Check out some of his highlights from 2016.
Boy with juvenile dermatomyositis scores a touchdown
For more than 60 years, firefighters have teamed with MDA to fight back against muscular dystrophy, ALS and related life-threatening diseases.
For one firefighter, the cause became very personal when his son, Chandler Mallen, was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, a neuromuscular disease that involves inflammation of the muscles. When Chandler asked his father — Scott, a firefighter who has collected donations for MDA’s Fill the Boot program for almost 25 years — if he’d lose the use of his legs, he didn’t wait for an answer.
“Even if I do,” Chandler said, “I’ll never stop trying.”
Ethan Lybrand, MDA Summer Camp, and His Wheelchair Named “Bumblebee”
Ethan Lybrand loves his Bumblebee. On Oct. 27, the 7-year-old became the proud owner of his first power wheelchair. Black and yellow, the chair’s color scheme is inspired by, and named after, his favorite Transformers character, Bumblebee. For Ethan, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, getting a wheelchair could have been a tough transition. Instead, Ethan . . .
MDA Lock-Up Donors & Local Firefighters Help Family Find Strength in Numbers
Aaron, 16, is an avid fan of rock music from ’70s to the ’90s — he looks up all the facts about songs, composers and artists as he is listening to them. “He is a veritable fount of trivia on rock music,” says his dad, Richard. Aaron, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in early . . .
Why We Love Our MDA Community
When Jayden Long learned four years ago that the firefighters in his hometown of Nampa, Idaho, had to work on Christmas, he devised a plan. “He wanted to deliver baked goods to the firefighters on Christmas day,” recalled his mother, Shellie. “So we baked just about all night and delivered trays of food to three . . .
I Don’t Dream of Running — But I’m Grateful MDA Team Momentum Does
“What would you do if you weren’t disabled?” Yep — that’s the hard-hitting question everyone and their mother wants to know. Can you say, #cliché? Truthfully, at this point, anyone who’s anyone knows I would twerk. And that’s what I’ve started telling people. But when most people ask, “twerking” isn’t generally the answer they’re hoping . . .
Chris Benyo’s Memorial Marathon with Team Momentum Celebrates Life
Since my wife passed away in July, there hasn’t been a lot of happiness in my life. It’s just been putting one foot in front of the other and taking everything day by day.
Then the Bank of America Chicago Marathon happened.
Denise and I had planned to run our “golden marathon” on Oct. 9. It would have been our ninth marathon together on the ninth. When she passed in the summer, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want to use her race chair again.
Albertsons Companies Employee Lives Unlimited at MDA Summer Camp
Albertsons Companies Employee’s Daughter Develops Connection for MDA Summer Camp As the second-largest grocery retailer in the country, Albertsons Companies and the Albertsons Companies Foundation, continue to show their passionate support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) across the country for over 20 years through in-store fundraising campaigns with their customers, partnering with Acosta Sales . . .
Woman with Miyoshi myopathy Works Hard, Plays Hard and Muscle Walks With All Her Heart
Melanie Carson has peered into the Grand Canyon and craned her neck looking up at the giant Redwoods of Northern California. She’s felt the mist of waterfalls in Hawaii and gazed at Yosemite’s Half Dome. She’s done it all, and wants to do more. That’s all while living with a rare type of Limb-girdle muscular . . .
