SMA Blog Party!

For those of you who blog, or follow blogs, know how you can become invested in someone else's life just by what they post. This has happened to me. I was reading a blog and followed a link to another site and found one I cannot stop thinking about. The site is http://www.gwendolynstrong.com/ and is about a little girl,Gwendolyn Strong, who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy or SMA when she was 6 months old. SMA is the leading genetic killer of infants and young children. It is a terminal, degenerative disease that results in the loss of nerves in the spinal cord and the weakness of the muscles connected with those nerves. SMA impacts the ability to walk, stand, sit, eat, breathe and even swallow. The mind and spirit are no different from that of a healthy baby, but the body eventually fails. Typical babies with SMA Type 1 have a life expectancy of between one and two years and they require around-the-clock medical assistance and monitoring.

So why am I posting this? This family has started The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation in hope of finding a cure for this horrible disease. Twelve children’s charities from around the country, including the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, were selected by the Jimmie Johnson Foundation for the Samsung Helmet of Hope that NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will wear in the upcoming Pepsi 400 race in October 2010. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation has already been incredibly generous, awarding a $10,000 grant to each of the twelve charities and increasing awareness about each of our missions.

You can vote once EVERY DAY from now until September 29th at 5 PM EDT. Go to VoteForSMA.com, select the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, enter the two security words, check the Official Rules box, and then click “Vote Now!”

That’s it! Very fast and easy. Please consider helping this great foundation stop this horrible disease.