Jog For Josiah

Last month, Josiah's school held their annual field day. This year, it was in honor of Josiah and to raise money for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. I knew that people did various fundraisers to help raise money for Duchenne research; I just didn't feel like I was at that place just yet. I was processing the diagnosis, handling doctors appointments, therapy appointments, medications, etc, but when Coach Davis asked if they could do this year's run in honor of Josiah, of course we said "yes!"

What happened next is that the run gave extended friends and family the opportunity to join with us and show their support for us. I hadn't taken the time to consider that other people (even Bennett) needed an outlet to be able to feel connected to Josiah on this journey. Bennett and his sister, Deanne, sent emails and contacted friends, collegues, etc. Students at the Piedmont School got sponsors for their laps. Friends sent donations. Through all these avenues, we raised over $10,000 to help fund Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. This money goes directly to Duchenne's research, as opposed to the more general MDA, which funds various types of muscular dystrophy research. 

In addition to all of the students and teachers, we had 30+ friends and family come out to join us, and many more were there in spirit. 

When preparing for the run, I had reached out to someone at Run For Our Sons (the run fundraising arm of PPMD). After the run she contacted me again to express how thrilled they were with the success of the run. She said that if we would like to make this a yearly thing, they can help with getting that set up, resources, etc - so don't be surprised when you hear about the Second Annual Jog For Josiah! Our thoughts are to make it a regular 5k (possible also a 10k) and hold it on a Saturday next year. We hope you can join us!

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