Duchene Muscular Dystrophy Fund Raiser

Back at the start of 2006, I had the opportunity to be part of a book project that would feature two of my favorites in the world of self-development and motivation. Stephen Covey of the 7 Habits fame and Brian Tracy of the sales and marketing world were teaming to co-author a book about success. In joining the project, I took on the task of authoring a chapter as to my own thoughts on the secrets of success. And so, at the very end of 2006, a dream I held from the time I was a 4th grader finally came to life as I received the first, hot-off-the-press shipment of “Speaking of Success” with a picture of myself on the cover smiling back between photos of Stephen Covey and Brian Tracy.

However as one of my dreams neared fruition, a dream of a fellow Digeo teammate, Mindy Leffler, was radically altered. In the spring of 2006, Mindy and Mitch Leffler’s young son Aidan was diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. DMD affects approximately 1 boy in every 3,000. DMD boys gradually lose the use of their muscles and eventually become paralyzed. Most do not live past their early 20's. As we all absorbed this harsh news, many of us looked for ways to help Mindy and her family in their time of need. The Digeo team responded warmly and generously. Thank you for that effort.

As I personally learned more about DMD from Mindy and began to research the topic on my own, I learned what a tough diagnosis DMD truly is for anyone facing it. What’s worse, funding for research specific to DMD is often over-shadowed by “bigger name” research and so while many promising treatments were in the wings for DMD, the market and research pressures made it difficult to keep pushing the DMD needs forward. My wife and I, as parents of two sons, wondered what more we could do to help in some small way with the situation, and so we decided to donate a number of my “Speaking of Success” books as a fundraising tool for an organization helping to drive forward the search for treatments for DMD.

The Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy organization is now selling “Speaking of Success” in their online store with 100% of the proceeds directly benefiting their ongoing research for DMD treatments. Please feel free to visit them at www.parentprojectmd.org to learn more of DMD. If you’re so inclined, you may also purchase a copy of “Speaking of Success” from the PPMD e-Commerce store (CLICK HERE) knowing that all revenues received by them will in at least a small way benefit a fellow Digeo team member.

Don’t forget that if you want to keep track of Aidan, visit www.aidanleffler.info where Mindy and Mitch keep postings of Aidan’s progress and the progress of various fundraising efforts on his behalf.

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