Muscular Dystrophy Association,<\/a> the organization that helps MD patients with a myriad of needs \u2013 from being tested, to acquiring wheelchairs, braces and even sending kids to summer camps.
\u201cThe wheelchair has not stopped Amber,\u201d said Pat Holmes, Amber\u2019s grandmother, who lives with Amber. \u201cI retired from Boeing to work for Amber. And she has me going to MDA events left, right and center.\u201d
The next big MDA event is in Kent, so Holmes won\u2019t have far to drive, this time around.
It\u2019s the MDA VIP Lockup, and it runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 9 at the ShoWare Center\u2019s club lounge.
With assistance from local firefighters, who \u201carrest\u201d local people who\u2019ve agreed to be jailbirds for an hour, the event is an upbeat way to raise funds for a disease that can have devastating consequences.<\/p>\nCandace Cusano, fundraising coordinator for the MDA Seattle district office, said each volunteer jailbird is working to raise \u201cbail\u201d of $2,000 – most of that through calling friends and supporters during their hour-long stay in the clink.
The lockup also functions as a luncheon, networking opportunity, and a way for the public to meet the local families that MDA serves.
Given the energy she pours in to helping with area MDA events, Amber is a veritable rock star in the organization.
\u201cAmber is amazing,\u201d Cusano said, noting the irrepressible young woman received an achievement award for her efforts in putting a face on the disease.
When asked what inspired her to become involved in MDA (she\u2019ll be greeting people and helping out at the Kent event, too) Amber put it simply.
\u201cJust getting out and explaining to people what their money is going toward,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to give back.\u201d
Holmes was happy to chime in about one of the job perks.
\u201cShe also gets to meet hunky firefighters,\u201d she said, noting Amber has hung out with local firefighters during the \u201cFill the Boot\u201d campaign, an event where fire department personnel canvass city streets, asking drivers to drop monetary donations into the big rubber fire boots they\u2019re holding.
The donations collected go to MDA to fund everything from patient needs to researching cures for the 43 neuromuscular diseases that fall into the catch-all muscular-dystrophy nomer.
Amber was born with an MD disease called Fredericks Ataxia. It\u2019s a slowly progressing disease that attacks the peripheral nerves, affecting the person\u2019s ability to balance, among other things, as well as heart issues.
By age 14, she could no longer balance well enough to walk on her own, and she also is dealing a heart murmur and diabetes, as a result of her condition.
But that\u2019s not stopping her.
Amber likes to hang out with friends and go to the movies. She also likes to do swimming and working out with weights, when she\u2019s not on the road for an MDA cause.
Amber\u2019s spunk has inspired someone else, as well – her caregiver Angie Prisbey.
\u201cIt has completely and totally changed my life,\u201d said Prisbey, of working with Amber and Amber\u2019s family.
Prisbey also feels like she\u2019s part of a bigger MDA family.
\u201cBeing part of an organization that does so much for research and for raising money to help families is a huge honor and a joy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Learn more<\/strong>
The MDA VIP Lockup runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 9 at the Kent ShoWare Center. It\u2019s open to the public, and you\u2019re invited to come by and learn about the organization, the local people it helps, and how you can be a part of finding the cure. Contact the Seattle MDA fundraisers (ccusano@mdausa.org, etruong@mdausa.org, rmeyers@mdausa.org or call 206-283-2183) to help or for more event details.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nwww.mdausa.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amber Morse may have a form of Muscular Dystrophy, but she\u2019s not letting it run her life.
\nProof that attitude is everything, the 27-year-old Kent woman has ice-skated, gone on airplanes, taken a trip to Hawaii and ridden a train. All the while operating from a wheelchair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":13479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13478"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}