Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy recently received a gracious donation of $10,000 from Steve Churchill, in honor of angel Zane Schmid.  Steve, founder and inventor of the Stove Top Cover, knew Hillary Schmid in high school.  When he heard about Zane and Spinal Muscular Atrophy, he decided to give back by supporting research for a treatment and cure.  It is because of civic-minded individuals like Steve that FSMA has become the leader in SMA research.  Thank you so much for your support of our mission and being a part of our SMA community!

The Lady Show Stoppers Step Team of Arlington, Texas, held its Annual Step Show On March 27^th. It was the Fourth Annual Show Stopper Classic and will go down in the memory books as one of the most memorable step shows in school history.  The Show Stoppers dedicated the show to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, with a portion of the money made to be donated to FSMA.  There were 16 schools throughout the Metroplex on hand to compete and there were over 800 people in attendance.

The step team is required each year by their sponsor to participate in a project which is designed to teach them kindness and giving back.  She teaches them that giving back helps you to see the bigger picture.  Ms. LaShall Jones encouraged the ladies to choose FSMA as their focus this year because of the impact it has had on her life.  She stood in front of the auditorium full of people and introduced a young lady who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She also introduced the young ladies sister, who had been an honor student at Hutcheson and is now a sophomore honor student at Sam Houston High School.  “I want to say thank you to this family, for they came into my life and blessed me.  Many of us don’t realize how blessed we are, we go day to day thinking that our life is so bad, not realizing that our problems compared to others, are nothing.” 

I realized life wasn’t near as complicated as I was making it to be, seeing this young lady go day to day, not knowing the things she had to deal with, and yet she kept a smile on her face, she maintained good grades, carried herself in the most respectful manner and never let what her family was dealing with get her down. 

The step team successfully donated $1,000 to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy on behalf of Kennedy Robinson.

-LaShall Jones, Hutcheson Junior High

In late 2009 Families of SMA was chosen to be one of the 12 charities featured on famous NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson’s racing helmet during the Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009. More than 1,400 charities were submitted to the Foundation, and FSMA was honored to be one of the few chosen. The program is known as the Helmet of Hope Initiative. Being part of the Helmet of Hope Initiative meant that Families of SMA became eligible to receive a grant of $1,048. Also, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation raised money by selling Helmet of Hope t-shirts – and they sold over 700! 100% of the money raised from selling the t-shirts was split evenly between the 12 charities.

After the Helmet of Hope Initiative, on behalf of Chandra and Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and the No. 48 Pit Crew, over $12,000 was contributed to FSMA in memory of former NASCAR Champion Benny Parsons.  Multiple members of the Hendrick Motorsports team have been touched in some way by SMA.  The group selected Families of SMA as a fitting way to honor Benny Parsons.

This $12,000 memorial, along with the Helmet of Hope initiative, allowed the Jimmie Johnson Foundation to donate a total of $14,173.19 to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy!