(Click Here to see the Coach to Cure MD 2009 Video)
As part of Buffalo State's homecoming football game against Western Connecticut State on Sept. 26, the Bengals will be participating in a fundraising event in conjunction with Coach to Cure MD 2009.
Coach To Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest national charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne is the most common, progressive and lethal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood. Most boys who are fighting Duchenne lose their ability to walk before they are teenagers. They often require ventilators by their late teens and sadly survive only into their mid -twenties. To date, there is no cure.
In 2008 the AFCA adopted PPMD’s Coach To Cure MD program as one of their charity efforts. One reason the AFCA was drawn to Coach To Cure MD was because of the unique parallels between Duchenne, a disorder which robs young men of precious muscle strength and college football, a game where young men are at the peak of their muscle strength.
The goals of Coach To Cure MD are simple: raise national awareness of the disorder and raise money to fund research for a cure. Our approach to reaching these goals is also simple. One football Saturday of each season – this year it will be on September 26, 2009 – AFCA coaches nationwide agrees to promote Coach To Cure MD. By wearing armbands, mentioning Coach To Cure MD during on and off-field interviews, and in some instances doing even more extensive media relations around the date, coaches are rolling up their sleeves and proudly getting involved.
Coach To Cure MD had a great start in 2008 with extensive national media coverage. From the 2,675 coaches who participated, the over 16,000 media contacts reached, the 2,289,245 in stadium attendees, and the over 32 million at home viewers, Coach To Cure MD was visible from coast to coast. Your participation with Coach to Cure MD can reach out even further and ultimately help us end Duchenne.
