Students at Loretto Early Childhood Center take flight for MDA

Getting preschoolers at Loretto Early Childhood Center to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association involved a little hopping.

Roughly a dozen kids recently bounced for a few minutes in the nonprofit group’s “Hop-a-Thon,” a national fundraiser and educational program for children in preschool through second grade.

While some of the students were easily distracted by butterflies and the promise of playing with bubbles on a warm, spring morning outside the Wheaton school, 3-year-old Zoe Handler mixed a lot of giggling with her hopping.

When teacher’s aid Susan Schuh asked her if she needed to rest, Zoe answered, “No! Hop, hop, hop!”

That kind of enthusiasm ended a weeklong program in which teachers explained muscular dystrophy, presented booklets and videos from the MDA and encouraged students to test wheelchairs in the classroom — where they also rigorously practiced their hopping skills.

“They’re just so eager to learn at this age,” Schuh said.

Students also will collect money from family and neighbors who sponsored them for the Hop-a-Thon, hoping to eclipse the $1,145 raised last year at Loretto for the MDA.

A portion of the donations from the Hop-a-Thon in northern Illinois will fund the MDA’s summer camp at Camp Red Leaf in Ingleside.

The weeklong camp — host to more than 60 children with muscular dystrophy — offers one-on-one counselor time, a carnival, daily swimming, a barbecue and other activities.

“The spotlight is on them,” says Allison Gronski, fundraising coordinator at the MDA’s Downers Grove office. “There are no limitations and no barriers. They’re allowed to do basically whatever they want to.”

At Loretto, the goal of the hands-on program is to foster a sense that kids can team together for a goal and awareness about how people deal with muscle diseases.

Sarah Pogorzelski says the program sparks questions and discussions about muscular dystrophy when her 3-year-old son Gavin returns home from school.

“I think it’s very eye opening for them, especially at this age,” Pogorzelski said. “It gives them more empathy for other children.”

The kids’ eagerness to learn and help others never surprises Schuh.

“I have the best kids in the world,” she said.