On April 21, students at Montessori Children’s House (MCH) in Redmond raised funds for Muscular Dystrophy research by participating in a fundraising Hop-a-Thon.

Students ranging from age 3 to 12 were challenged to see how many hops they could do in one minute at the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) event. Each hop was counted and at the end of the event, thousands of hops were accumulated.

“People donate a certain amount of money per hop,” said Head of School Jennifer Wheelhouse. “Students will get their hop forms on Friday to take home and start raising money for this vital research.”

Muscular Dystrophy is a worthy cause for the students and staff at MCH. One student’s mother has been diagnosed with the disease and is physically challenged on a daily basis, making parenting her 3-year-old daughter a difficult task.

“I reached out to MCH because I am more than familiar with the school’s dedication to the community, students and their families,” said Hillary Leviant, who was diagnosed three years ago.

Leviant’s grandfather also had the disease during the 1950s, a time when little was known about it. Together with a businessman, whose child also had Muscular Dystrophy, Leviant’s grandfather founded the MDA. Leviant’s great uncle was the talent agent for movie star Jerry Lewis, which is how he began his legendary association with the MDA and introduced the internationally known Jerry’s Kids.

Leviant shared her Muscular Dystrophy struggle in MCH’s weekly newsletter with great response both online and at the Hop-a-Thon.