Great Numbers & Heartfelt Stories Make Virtual Run, Walk or Roll a Success
Significantly surpassing a stretch goal of $25,000 to fund research for PMD treatment and therapies. Welcoming 360 participants from the U.S., Switzerland, and Austria who raised a grand total of $31,712. Having 10 PMD Warrior Teams come together in support of their friends, families and communities.
We’d call that a win-win-win success story for September’s Virtual Run, Walk or Roll, an event held to spotlight Leukodystrophy Month and raise awareness of the disease in a powerful way. One hundred percent of registration fees and donations went to help the PMD Foundation’s work on education, research, service, and advocacy for those affected by Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease.
Every mile of the race – whether the participant did a mile or 5K – honored someone who has been affected by PMD. Stories of those being honored were shared on social media and will be featured in the foundation’s winter newsletter. As a preview, here are a few PMD Warrior stories from around the world:
Geneva, Switzerland. Felix was diagnosed when he was just six months old. Now a year and nine months old, he is described by his parents, Samuel and Chun-Y, as “an amazing little guy who never ceases to impress us. He’s fun, loving and curious, and always up for a good laugh. Felix loves swimming and listening to music (or any kind of weird noises, for that matter!)”
Austria. Valentin lives in a village near Vienna and is eight years old. He has worked as a photo model for a book cover and website, Described by Marianne, his mother, as very funny and quite determined to get what he wants, Valentin’s favorite things are swimming, playing with his tablet, cars, and Transformers.
Mexico, New York. Jaden will be 20 on December 5, 2021 and was diagnosed with PMD at 18 months old after an original misdiagnosis of cerebral palsy. He loves school, is very social and his favorite thing to do is hang out in the barn with his Dad watching sports. His other favorite television shows are Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Judge Judy (he loves it when anyone gets in trouble and is yelled at, which is why he loves Judge Judy). In addition to swimming and being outdoors, Jaden loves all types of music but his favorites are Johnny Cash and The White Stripes. He also loves his best buddy and dog, Cash, and his new puppy, Hank.
We’ll be featuring our other PMD Warrier teams in our next blog post.
The PMD Foundation plans to have an even bigger Virtual Run, Walk or Roll in 2022 with more warriors, participants, countries, and fun. The Foundation hopes to welcome even more sponsors to add to those who graciously supported the September 2021 event including IONIS, Upstate Construction Services, The Insurance Place, Erie Insurance, Avery Rental Property, Trailer Marketing Services, Skips Fish Fry, OCMIC, 29 Design Studio, and Black Creek Veterinary Clinic.
Thank you to everyone who supported a Virtual Run, Walk or Roll!