Acworth, Kennesaw Business Leaders Generate "Bail Money" in MDA Fundraiser

Staff Report

The Muscular Dystrophy Association issued fun arrest warrants for local business and civic leaders on October 23, 2014, including Bryan Traylor, Tana Page, and 33 more Kennesaw-Acworth business and civic leaders. The group of community-minded residents was put “behind bars” for MDA’s signature Lock-Up fundraiser at the Elevation Chophouse.

Accused of having big hearts and being heavily armed with kindness, these “jailbirds” helped raise more than $20,000 for families affected by neuromuscular diseases in the Kennesaw-Acworth area.

In order to be released, each jailbird’s “bail” was set at $2,400, and the money was raised by encouraging friends, family, co-workers and business contacts to make contributions to MDA. The funds raised will help MDA assist hundreds of local individuals and families living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle diseases throughout the Kennesaw-Acworth area.

The Lock-Up also will help send Georgia youngsters to MDA’s summer camp at Camp Twin Lakes, in Rutledge, GA where all activities are designed for kids with limited mobility, and many volunteers provide the one-on-one assistance needed to optimize participation. Some activities include horseback riding, swimming, sports, and arts and crafts.

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides unparalleled health care services; advocates for the families it serves; and invests significant resources educating the medical and scientific communities, as well as the general public, about neuromuscular diseases affecting more than 1 million Americans.

MDA maintains a network of some 200 hospital-affiliated clinics — 38 of which are designated as MDA/ALS centers — throughout the country. In North Georgia, families can receive excellent care for progressive muscle diseases at the MDA Clinic at Emory Healthcare and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.