Posted September 9, 2011

Loudonville students Sara Dranichak and Blake Oakley and Speech Language Pathologist Stephanie Fitzgerald appeared on the annual MDA Telethon on CBS-6.

Last April, students from Loudonville Elementary School participated in a school wide Hop-A-Thon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Collectively, they raised approximately $4,000.

Over Labor Day weekend, Loudonville students Sara Dranichak and Blake Oakley and Speech Language Pathologist Stephanie Fitzgerald appeared on the annual MDA Telethon on CBS-6. Together, they presented a check to the MDA for $16,000, the total amount raised from all of the Hop-A-Thons that were held.

"We were really happy and proud to raise all of that money," Dranichak said. "It makes you feel good to help those in need."

Dranichak and Oakley had a chance to talk with a few children who have been affected by MDA.

"We spent some time talking to them," Oakley said. "It was really nice to get to know them a little bit."

Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited muscle diseases in which muscle fibers are unusually susceptible to damage.

MDA is the nation’s largest voluntary health agency funding cutting-edge neuromuscular research, health care services and education. In 2010 alone, MDA invested almost $39 million into research for more than 40 forms of muscle disease, and more than $80 million into health care services for children and adults affected by these diseases.

Through this effort, Loudonville students and community members are helping to ensure that the total dollar amount invested in 2011 increases.