Apparently my wonderful sister-in-law thought it would be funny to sign me up for the Blount County Lock-up in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  She had been volunteered and needed someone to take down with her, so I was the lucky guy.  I was a good sport and played along… admittedly I had no idea what I was getting myself into though.  This was the first fund raiser I’d ever been involved with (well, unless of course you count selling candy bars for Boy Scouts), so this was very new to me.  The Albino Bowler was just an innocent bystander. 

After digging in I quickly realized that MDA is all about helping children with neuromuscular diseases try to lead normal, fun lives through research, education, and direct assistance… definitely something I can get behind.  MDA really made it easy to raise money as well be providing participants with a web page to send people to where they could make their donations online using a credit card or other payment methods.  I was very encouraged that so many people were willing to help these kids out, even in these tough economic times.  Very cool.  So, how did I do?  Well, unfortunately I didn’t meet my goal,

but I did manage to raise more money than my sister-in-law!    I knew my competitive spirit would be good for something one day! All in all the Blount County drive raised $48,500, which is absolutely awesome.  That money is going to go a long way towards buying children wheel chairs, paying for summer camps, and research.  Thanks to everyone who pitched in!!

– Dan Thompson