Essential Facts On The Muscular Dystrophy Association And Summer Camp

Article by Craig Morganson

The words summer camp provide instant mental pictures of wooden docks on rich green lakes surrounded by woods, cabins filled with bunk-beds, dining halls with screens as opposed to windows and s ‘mores over a campfire. Summer camp is a rite of passage for a few, a privilege for many people and an out of reach desire for others. Most of us have heard about the MDA, you remember fondly the Jerry Lewis telethons, and the big electronic donation tally, but did you know that through the donations produced by the MDA countless MDA kids each year get to benefit from camp totally free to their families?

MDA is an abbreviation for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. MDA is a non-profit organization committed to helping fund research into muscular dystrophy, ALS and nearly 50 other similar neuromuscular diseases. MDA scientists are at the leading edge of gene therapy research as well as helping provide medical services, equipment and support groups. This is in addition to helping provide the funding for MDA summer camps.

Every summer a large number of kids attend many of the 80 camps in the United States, all for the low, low cost of 0 dollars, on account of the fund raising efforts of MDA. The magic of MDA camps is always that for 1 week a year, children enduring various types of neuromuscular diseases are just kids. Camps are fashioned around activities for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility. Lifelong friendships are formed around shared ordeals and conflicts.

Many of the many fun activities might include: swimming, boating & canoeing, horse riding, karaoke, archery, arts and crafts, scavenger hunts and campfires. For one week, kids get to spend some time in a world that was built just for them. Not only that, this can very well be the one week a year their parents get a rest from the constant worry that their child is being appropriately cared for. Having their child in the care of an MDA summer camp specifically designed to suit the medical and physical issues of their disease supplies a kind of peacefulness that is priceless in and of itself.

The MDA has supplied not only the financial backing to support these camps, but they are already able to reach out to create a network of people prepared to volunteer their time to make this experience a reality. By supporting the MDA, you help them make a difference in the future of the disease, but you also help make a tangible real time difference in the lives of the children and families who are living with these challenges on a daily basis.