Fill the Boot Competition Heats Up!

After Idlewild's successful Fill the Boot drive, we have all been anxiously awaiting the results of the competition between Matthews, Mint Hill and Idlewild! And the results are in!

Idlewild's $3,220 boot drive put them in 3rd place for the competition. They exceeded their goal and last year's total! Congratulations Idlewild!

On November 5, about three miles separated Matthews and Mint Hill as they filled their boots for MDA! Mint Hill surpassed their total from last year and raised $3800, putting them in 2nd place in the competition. It was a great day in the streets in Mint Hill!

Just down the road, the Matthews Fire Department had a great day and collected $6,551.84! That means that Matthews is our winner once again this year! Congratulations to all Matthews Firefighters for a job well done!

One of our favorite MDA families lives in Matthews and spent the entire day helping to collect money! Thanks to Noah, Natalie, Stacy & David Sentivan for supporting the department!

Thanks to everyone from the Idlewild Fire Department, Mint Hill Fire Department and Matthews Fire Department for making 2011 another successful year through your Fill the Boot drives! The three departments combined raised more than $13,571 for MDA!

Idlewild Firefighters Fill the Boot

On Saturday, firefighters from the Idlewild Volunteer Fire Department took to the streets to Fill the Boot for MDA! They raised $3,220 in this year's drive, topping their total from last year. Idlewild is the first department to complete their drive in the 2011 competition between Matthews, Mint Hill and Idlewild, and we'd say they are off to a great start!

Who do you think will win this year's competition? If you haven't joined in to help these departments out yet, you can support Matthews and Mint Hill this Saturday, November 5! Drive through the intersection of Highway 51 and Lawyers Road to donate to Mint Hill's boot drive and the intersection of John St. and Trade St. in downtown to support Matthews! Or, park nearby and say hello!

Don't forget to snap a picture with your favorite firefighter and send to us at kdove@mdausa.org.

Firefighters in competition!

It’s time to FILL THE BOOT FOR MDA!

The Matthews Fire Department, Mint Hill Fire Department and Idlewild Fire Department are in competition to raise money for MDA! We would love to have your help to support them and cheer them on in the competition. If you can take a few minutes on either of the below dates to stop by the boot drive locations to thank the firefighters and say hello, that would really help motivate them to raise lots of money!

Saturday, October 29, 9am-1pm

Idlewild Fire Department Fill the Boot

Intersection of Hwy. 51 and Idlewild Rd.

Saturday, November 5, 9am – 12pm

Mint Hill Fire Department

Intersection of Hwy. 51 and Lawyers Rd. in Mint Hill

Saturday, November 5, 10am – 1pm

Matthews Fire Department

Intersection of Trade Street and Johns Street in Matthews

*Please take caution when visiting Fill the Boot locations and do not enter the street or intersection. Please park in a parking lot near the intersection.

For information on these or any other Fill the Boot drives, please contact us at 704-567-2912.

Muscle Walk

Our team is so excited to announce that our 2012 Muscle Walk will be held on Sunday, March 18! We will be back at the Charlotte Motor Speedway again this year for another exciting walk day. If you are new to Muscle Walk, we would like to invite you to be a part of this exciting event in 2012! You can form a team with family, friends, or co-workers to raise money for MDA and walk around the track on the day of Muscle Walk! It is a great time for the MDA family to get together in a really cool place to raise lots of money for MDA! Take a look at some shots from last year's walk:

For those of you who took your first Muscle Walk lap around the track with us in 2011, the time has come to sign up your team!

Or, if your company would like to receive more information on how to get involved or become a Muscle Walk Corporate Sponsor, please call our office at 704-567-2912.

Registration is now open for all teams! Click here to sign up! Will you be the next to flex?

Buffalo Wild Wings

We are thrilled to announce that Buffalo Wild Wings will be selling MDA football mobiles in seven locations during the entire month of September! To kick off the program, Buffalo Wild Wings will be hosting a very special event. Visit your local Buffalo Wild Wings on Sunday, August 28 or Monday, August 29 and mention MDA to your server and they will donate 10% of sales to MDA!

Make sure to visit your Buffalo Wild Wings throughout the month of September to show your support and say THANK YOU! And, don’t forget to buy a $1 football mobile!

Participating Locations

NASCAR Hall of Fame—400 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Charlotte, NC (704) 971-9464

Charlotte: University Area—440 E. McCullough Dr, Charlotte, NC (704) 510-1545

Matthews—2530 Sardis Road North, Charlotte, NC (704) 849-9464

Concord/Afton Village—289 George Bay Court, Concord, NC (704) 782-9474

Gastonia—422 Cox Road, Gastonia, NC (704) 349-4060

Hickory—2049 Catawba Valley Blvd SE, Hickory, NC (828) 327-9464

Greenville—1125 Woodruff Road, Suite 1300, Greenville, SC (864) 286-3843

If you have any questions, please contact Kelsey at 704-567-2912 or kdove@mdausa.org.

THANK YOU BUFFALO WILD WINGS!

Summer Shootout Family Night

It has been a busy week at MDA! The highlight of our week was getting to spend a summer evening with some MDA families at the Charlotte Motor Speedway!

The fun started in the infield, where our friends at Bojangles' served up Cajun Filet Sandwiches, Chicken Supremes, Seasoned Fries and their Legendary Iced Tea. YUM!

The Charlotte Motor Speedway staff, who also hosts our Muscle Walk, helped to make this event fun for everyone. After dinner, everyone headed to the grandstand to watch the races. The kids got free monster trucks and went home happy after a fun night!

We had a blast hanging out with some pretty special MDA families and can't wait until next year!

Be the Next to Flex

We hope you are all enjoying your summer! Things haven't slowed down in our MDA office, as we are busy planning for lots of fall events!

This summer, you can join MDA's Muscle Team! Strike a muscle pose and add it to our "Make a Muscle, Make a Difference" photo album on http://www.mda.org/. Whether you're on vacation, at a family reunion, or at work or play, get your family, friends and co-workers to Make a Muscle in support of MDA. Help spread the word, and get everyone you know to Make a Muscle and Make a Difference for MDA!

Click here to upload your muscle pose and visit the gallery to check out the impressive array of Make a Muscle shots.

Happy summer!

Circle K Sends Kids to Camp

During the entire month of May, Circle K Southeast stores made a muscle for MDA by selling Summer Camp mobiles in their stores. The campaign was a huge success, raising $121,726!

Here in the NC market, our top store was #8357 on Little Rock Road in Charlotte, which raised $2,359! Our Charlotte team is proud to report that the Southeast - NC stores raised $41,085! What an outstanding effort!

Circle K is a strong supporter and true partner of MDA and stays busy all year long in their commitment to raise money for local families living with neuromuscular diseases. They host an incredible golf tournament in the fall, provide donations for our Family Holiday Party in December and host multiple mobile campaigns each year. We are so very grateful for our friends at Circle K!

Here are some Circle K stores in action during the Summer Camp campaign!

Thank you Circle K! See you at Summer Camp!

MDA Loves Our Firefighters!

Not only do they protect our communities every day, but they support MDA too! They Fill the Boot. They help at Lock-Ups. They serve as camp counselors. And, at our Muscle Team® 2011, they came through for us once again.

Firefighters from six departments volunteered at our event. A huge thanks goes out to the following departments:

Charlotte Fire Department

Gastonia Fire Department

Concord Fire Department

Mooresville Fire Department

Columbia Fire Department (SC)

Camden Fire Department (SC)

Check out our firefighters in action!

During the summer months, our team will be busy working with our local fire departments to plan Fill the Boot events for the fall. Stay tuned for information about your community boot drive!

Thank you to all of our dedicated firefighters!

Muscle Team 2011

On May 24, Charlotte South hosted Muscle Team® 2011 at Panther's Den inside the Bank of America Stadium. After tireless effort by our coaches, committee, and staff, we are thrilled to report that the event raised more than $271,000! We couldn't have done it without our volunteers, firefighters and of course, our MDA families! We had 13 MDA Buddies in attendance that night that were each paired with a professional athlete.

The evening was packed full of fun - a silent and mini live auction, magic by Hannibal, performances by the Rhythm Cats, and appearances by Sir Purr, Rufus, Homer the Dragon, Lug Nut, and Chubby Checker. We even got to hang out with Monica Palumbo & Paige Duke, Miss Sprint Cup! The MDA Buddies & their athletes played video games provided by Best Buy and took photos in the ShutterBooth. Check out some of our favorite images from the event!

 

Our MDA Buddies & their professional athletes Making a Muscle!

 









  



 

 

 

   



Muscle Team Coaches Clarence Ray & Ron Sherrill with honoree David Dooley

  Thanks to all who made Muscle Team® 2011 a huge success!


Meet Our Team

We would like to introduce you to our team!

{Pictured L - R}
Liz Kayed - Fundraising Coordinator, Charlotte North
Ruthie Mihal - Executive Director, Charlotte North
Kelsey Dove - Fundraising Coordinator, Charlotte South
Lyles Eddins - Executive Director, Charlotte South
Lucas Coe - Health Care Services Coordinator, Charlotte North & South
Perri Budd - Fundraising Coordinator, Charlotte South

This photo was taken at the Charlotte Motor Speedway as we were preparing for our Muscle Walk in March. To explain the title of our little blog, we have two MDA offices in the Charlotte area - Charlotte North is located in Mooresville and Charlotte South is located in Charlotte. Although we have our own fundraising events, we collectively serve all families in the Charlotte and surrounding areas. We share Lucas, our valiant Health Care Services Coordinator, and we work together on big events throughout the year, like Muscle Walk, Summer Camp and our Awards Banquet. Although we are two offices, we have officially adopted the "One Team, One Dream" slogan, and we are all working towards the same goal.

Not pictured above, but certainly the glue that holds our team together, are Robin Stahnke (Health Care Services AA), Teresa Shoufler (Charlotte South AA) and Barbara Hawk (Charlotte North AA).

Have a happy weekend!