How many muscles does it take to make a difference?

Having fun at my first MDA experience!

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) works non-stop to ensure that patients diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy are taken care of in every way possible; they fund research, supply needed medical equipment, make support groups available, and put on an annual summer camp for the children, which I consider the most important. Muscular Dystrophy is a set of several very devastating diseases that have to do with degeneration of the muscular system, and sometimes also the nervous system. Most of these diseases lead to death, and the most common type leads to death by age 30.  This camp is the highlight of all the children’s year, and they can’t stop talking about it. For one week every summer all across the nation, children with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) can finally be kids. For one week parents don’t need to constantly stress, and kids can learn they aren’t the only one with this type of disease.  MDA has found that one of the best treatments for these kids is to be surrounded by love, support, and understanding.

The ladies getting ready for the dance!

Volunteerism has always been a significant portion of my life, but the first summer I went to MDA camp it became even more important to me as a counselor for the Muscular Dystrophy Associations annual camp, where I  met and fell in love with all of the campers.  Many of them have a low quality of life by the average person’s standards; however the zest for life in their eyes is incomparable. That week, I listened to their stories, their worries, and their fears. Many of them have given up on there being a cure for any of the many diseases classified as Muscular Dystrophy.  Over the summer camp we clearly became a very close knit family. 

Camp Westminster Woods always feeds us such yummy food!

The last day of camp was emotionally tolling because we knew that most of us wouldn’t see each other for about a year, but none of us imagined that we would be saying our final good-bye to one of our campers that day. When I found out Sam passed away from Duchene’s Muscular Dystrophy a week later, I was paralyzed with emotion. It was a reality check, at that moment I realized how short these children’s life’s are, and I saw a small glimpse of their everyday reality. I quickly decided that it would be more productive to turn the pain of Sam’s death into action. The spring of 2009 I organized a fundraising walk in honor of him to raise money for research and camp, but my second promise in honor of Sam will take much more work. The day Sam died I decided that no one deserved to lose someone as awe inspiring as him, who touched every heart, and brought a smile to everyone’s face. Because of this, I decided that I want to do everything in my power to prevent this from happening to anyone else.  To accomplish this I have been working to get as many people involved with MDA as possible, being Miss California would open countless doors for reaching this goal.

Alex is always such a trooper and lets me decorate his chair for the VIP day parade!

So after all that talk what am I personally doing about it as Miss Lake County? One of the first things I did with my title was do an appearance at the Lakeport Safeway. I learned that it's much easier to convince people to donate when they check out if I'm standing there telling them how great my kids are. That day was the highest donations day there by far which was really rewarding!

My favorite reporter Kevin joined me at Safeway!

 Then it was off to the Bay Area "Muscle Walk" which was the largest MDA walk in the country!

With the lovely Miss Elle who happens to be my fabulous camper this year!

Then it was time for the Fill the Boot fundraiser and the Lock Up! Fill the Boot is when firefighters are spread out i and intersection and the try to fill their boots with donations. My job was to run the San Rafael intersection and count the generous donations, it was fun to be so helpful! The Lock Up is where community members are "arrested" for having a big heart and have to raise money to pay their bail. Miss Sonoma joined me at that fundraiser and we had so much fun!

Silly firefighters at the awards barbecue after Fill the Boot

Miss Sonoma and I at the Lock Up

Currently I speak about MDA at every event I go to and ask people for donations to MDA for time,money, or legos. It may sound strange to ask for legos but it is a big part of MDA camp. One of the last muscles sets to degrade for most of these kids is their fine motor skills, and we do our best to help the kids keep this ability as long as possible. A fun way to do this is with the lego cabin! Everything the child builds they get to take home which allows them to continue working with their hands after camp. There are fliers Floating around Lake County on drop off site's for legos but if you have any question's do not hesitate to ask! If you know anyone who would like to volunteer with MDA ask me for information!

So far I have completed 550 hours of service for MDA, and I plan to do much more. The most important type of service I would like to do is to raise awareness of the problem. I plan on doing this through awareness programs throughout the community, including more fundraisers and drives to get more young adults involved as counselors at the annual camps, and tolerance programs in schools to reduce the teasing and stigmas surrounding wheel chairs. This would benefit the Miss California Organization by showing the good message that the program represents. One of the four points on the crown represents service, so I feel that all reigning queens should be seen very frequently in community service roles. Through this, a good light would be shown upon the program, thus attracting more contestants and sponsors. In short, my platform will not only bring awareness to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but also to the good works of the Miss California Scholarship Program. 

The last day of camp is always tough!

 My personal platform works perfectly with Miss America because all of my MDA kids use CMN hospitals when they have an emergency or need surgery. I am one of MDA’s biggest walking billboards because I have seen firsthand how much good it does, and how much hope it brings every day.  My passion for these kids reassures me that I can accomplish my goals, and pushes me to pursue my dream of someday curing at least one of these devastating diseases. I hope to show the world that there are many kids like Sam, who need the support of MDA, and that every person can help much more than they know. There are 640 muscles in the human body, it takes 200 to take a step, 13 to smile, but only one to make a difference, your heart!