Birthday Boy Brayden Celebrated with PMD Walk, Run and Roll Event
Brayden, who was diagnosed with PMD when he was one, received a special birthday present when his family and friends honored him with a Virtual Walk, Run and Roll to benefit the PMD Foundation and PMD Family Support. The event was organized by Judy Beamer and her daughter, Emily.
They set the goal for $2,500 and raised more than $10,000. “Our family wanted to put together a fundraiser for PMD for quite a while to raise funds for research and raise awareness about the disease,” says Judy. “Brayden brings us so much joy, and we wanted to do something special for his seventh birthday.”
Connecting with PMD Families and Others
Judy says one of the best parts of the event was the sense of community they felt with PMD families across the globe. The event had race participants from 22 states and Canada. “It was fun to see everyone sharing their race photos from all over. It was so special to be connected with PMD families that we have only met once or twice or not at all,” Judy explains.
One family that participated in Brayden’s event, Melanie Turenne and her son Theo jumped on board to support the race and help spread the word among friends and family. “We could not have fundraised nearly as much without the support of Melanie and many others in our PMD network. We are very excited about the connections we made and will continue to have with our new PMD family friends.”
She was also deeply moved by their local community. “We were overwhelmed and humbled by the support from our community after our local newspaper featured an article about Brayden, PMD and the race. As many know, this disease can be daunting and the rarity of it can often feel isolating, but the support and community from near and far gave our family a renewed sense of hope.”
Planning the Race
Judy and Emily decided on a virtual race where people could choose their preferred distance since it was the most inclusive option, logistically easier with COVID and allowed people from all over the country to participate. Each participant who signed up for the July 2021 event received a race t-shirt in the mail.
The mother-daughter duo learned quite a bit about organizing a fundraiser and found many helpful resources on organizing virtual or in-person races. Here are tips they have for others who want to organize an event:
Start early and have a plan. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time for race registration, t-shirt orders, mailing and other parts of the event.
Publicize your event anywhere and everywhere. They did a lot of advertising on social media and through word of mouth. They also received lots of local support after the paper featured the event. “There are so many people willing to donate and support our sweet kiddos. They just need to know how,” Judy explains.
Connect with other PMD families and give them flyers and other materials to use in their own communities. She said there is definitely power in numbers.
Understand that it’s not as hard as it seems. There are many resources out there and people in your community willing to help with t-shirts or other logistical needs. “If we were able to raise over $10,000 with a little effort and some help from friends, you can too,” she adds.
Hope for the Future
Judy believes strongly that there is hope on the horizon for both treatment and a cure for PMD. “Imagine what we could do collectively if many families just had a small event. It doesn’t have to be a big event or a big goal.” She and her daughter plan to expand their fundraising efforts and include as many PMD families as they can in future events.
“There are a lot of people out there with big hearts,” she concludes. “Most of them don’t know anything about PMD or what you are going through until you tell them. There is so much hope on the horizon for our boys. Our goal is to do whatever we can to help facilitate research for treatments and a cure. Together we can do this!”