In September of 2017, one week before her 3rd birthday, my daughter was diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening autoimmune disease called Juvenile Myositis. This disease impacts only 3 out of 1 million children in the US each year and causes the immune system to attack healthy skin and muscle tissue in the shoulders, neck, and legs. These attacks cause rashes, inflammation, and weakness, and if left untreated, she wouldn’t be able to swallow or even breathe.
Her disease has flared two more times over the last two years, and we’re now over 5 years into this up and down roller coaster. Now that she’s 8 ½ years old, there are new challenges. She’s old enough to ask difficult questions, such as “Why do I have JM? Why doesn’t anyone else in my school have to go to the hospital for infusions?”, and so forth. Being such a rare disease, it’s common for these kids to have never met another child with their disease. They feel very alone, and so do their parents. They need friendships with other children “just like them”, who know exactly what they’re going through… and as parents, we need the same thing. We needed Community, and so an idea was born.
In November 2022, we founded the Ascent2aCure Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit public charity, with a mission to create a community of support and build relationships between children living with Juvenile Myositis and their families. Our foundation hosts annual Adventure Camps for children with JM, their siblings, and parents/caregivers. Through fundraising, we cover their full cost of attendance. At these camps, they’ll participate in activities such as High Ropes, Rock Walls, Archery, Tubing, Swimming, and Arts and Crafts. In the evening they’ll learn how to build a campfire, and then cook their own s'mores. The families will camp overnight in Glamping Tents, and wake up the following morning for another fun-filled memorable day together. Most importantly, they’ll be building bonds and friendships with one another, which will help support them for the rest of their lives.
MPC Builders has pledged to donate 10% of the profit from each of our custom home projects to the Ascent2aCure Foundation, to help drive fundraising for the organization. These donations will be made in honor of our clients when they choose to award MPC their project as a way of saying “thank you for your business.” We want to tie the success of our business to a higher cause because we believe that all great companies not only manage their core business well but also contribute to the greater good of humanity. By tying our success to the success of the Ascent2aCure Foundation, every day we will show up to work, motivated to succeed and ready to give it our all, because we’re not just building a project for our clients… we’re building a better future for my daughter and other rare children like her around the world because no one should fight this alone.
If not us, then who?
For more information about the Ascent2aCure Foundation, to donate, or get involved, please visit our website Ascent2aCure.org