First Posted: 5/2/2014

Abington Christian Academy (ACA) held its second annual Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Hop-A-Thon last week to raise money for muscular dystrophy. This year we did a “hip hop” theme.

We have parents and friends come to the school to count how many hops we can do in two minutes. Our families and friends give money for how many hops we do. If someone pledges to give five cents for every hop I hop, and I hop 200 times, the person would give $10. The money we collect goes to the MDA to help kids with muscular dystrophy get treatment or go to camp.

The winners in each class are:

Sara Barbrack, pre-k 3, with 190 hops; Jaiden Drutherosky, pre-k 4, with 380 hops; Lindsey Madeira, kindergarten, with 301 hops; Abby Drutherosky, first/second grades, with 379 hops; Josh Masters, third/fourth grades, with 290 hops and Ellie Treat, seventh/eighth with 322 hops.

I, Olivia, got 313 hops as winner of the fifth/sixth grade class. I, Gwen, got 307 hops and came in second place for the fifth/sixth grade class.

In addition to hopping, we participated in learning stations about MD, dressed up in hip hop style and learned the Electric Slide.

Noah Sienkiewicz has a form of muscular dystrophy called Duchenne. He and his family came to our school and talked about how his life is different with MD. Noah is six years old, and he’s a Goodwill Ambassador for MDA. He has a motorized scooter that helps him get around when his muscles feel weak.

MDA receives no money from the government. ACA is impressed with how much money we can give – just by hopping – to families with children who have MD. It is expensive to help these kids. A flu shot costs $30. One minute of research costs $74. One support group session costs $100. One physical, occupational, or respiratory consultation costs $150. One year of repairs to durable medical equipment costs $500, and it costs $800 to send one child to MDA summer camp.

Ms. Christi Atkinson works for MDA. She educates people on the disabilities of MD. She came and talked with us about how kids with MD feel.

MD is a disease that you’re born with. You cannot catch MD. It makes your muscles very weak. People with MD feel like they are carrying around extra weight. For them the lightest things feel really heavy.

We would like to thank our sponsors for giving money for MDA. We would like to thank Noah for coming to our school and telling us how his life is with MD. We would like to thank Ms. Christi for educating us on MD.