Helping others has always been second nature to me. Whether it was helping a friend with homework, or being there when times got rough, I have always put others before myself. I believe that by helping others, you will get more in return. Ten years ago I started an annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The fundraiser is held each year on my birthday and has grown from a small group of friends and family gathering in my backyard to over one hundred fifty people this past year. At the age of three, my parents noticed that I was beginning to have trouble getting up from the floor, and began lagging while walking. After several doctors’ visits in Pueblo, I was referred to The Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado for further evaluation. During that time, I was seen by many specialists, endured many tests, and was given an unspecified diagnosis of a neuromuscular disease primarily affecting my hands and lower legs. Since being diagnosed fourteen years ago, I have felt the need and the desire to help raise money to find a cure for others and myself affected by the forty neuromuscular diseases classified as muscular dystrophy. I have helped with a lot of the fundraisers that the Muscular Dystrophy Association has sponsored, but never felt like I was directly doing my part to help. Then I came up with the idea to have my own fundraiser with the proceeds benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. On my seventh birthday, I cut out recipes from magazines and sold them to my family members as my first fundraiser.  This past year, my fundraiser was held August 18, 2007.  There were over 150 people in attendance, and over $5,483 was raised.