Debilitating diseases, like the 41 afflictions associated with muscular dystrophy, are overwhelming for the victim and their family.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) works hard to ease the pain through a creative fundraising campaign that helps pay for family and patient services.
On Wednesday, 25 volunteers were “arrested and jailed” at the Cortez Fire District garage as part of the MDA Lock Up fundraiser.
Stuck in the slammer wearing the requisite striped uniform, prisoners – including this reporter – worked the phones and social media to try and raise $1,600 in bail from friends, acquaintances and coworkers.
“It all goes to local families to help pay for their needs fighting this disease,” said Kendall Montagriff, MDA’s executive director for the Grand Junction office. “The Lock Up was an idea we came up with 30 years ago, and it really took off.”
There are 18 families in Montezuma County that have a loved one suffering from muscular dystrophy, she said.
Funds raised will help pay for wheelchairs, leg braces, doctor visits, support groups, and for kids to attend a week-long summer camping trip in Empire, Colorado.
The camping trip is especially important, says the Coppinger family of Bayfield. Their son Mike, 13, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy shortly after birth.
MDA’s free medical services are crucial to his long-term care, the family said, but the organized summer camp catered to kids with disabilities is his favorite time of year.
“I like to make friends that are just like me because they understand,” Mike said of the camping trip, which features fishing, zip-lining, and traveling on wheel-chair accessible trails.
The MDA’s Grand Junction office hosts nine Lock Up events per year in towns on the Western Slope. Last year, the office raised $400,000 to help families struggling with the disease.
Montagriff said there have been significant advances in treatment of the disease.
“There have been big breakthroughs, particularly for ALS,” she said. “New treatments are allowing kids to continue walking later and later.”
Bringing together community members to fundraise side by side is inspiring, said volunteer Jessica Sutherland, who works for Re-1 transportation.
“It’s unique because it pushes your comfort zone a bit, and motivates you to reach out and get your friends to donate,” she said. “I’ve seen what families with the disease have to go through, all the surgeries and heartbreak, it makes you tap into the humanity side of life and do what you can to help.”
To learn more about muscular dystrophy go to http://www.mda.org/office/grand-junction, and to donate to help families in Montezuma County with loved ones suffering from the disease, go to http://bit.ly/1KWl3dV to make a safe online contribution.
