FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2002 — MDA

Local family raises over $100,000 for MDA

Shelby Township, MI — Tony and Diana Donadio of Shelby Township have spent the last eight years raising funds to help find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) — the form of muscular dystrophy that affects their 10-year-old daughter, Maria — through their annual golf fund-raiser. This year they raised $106,000, breaking the national record of funds raised for the MDA during a non-corporate golf event.

The 8th Annual Maria Donadio Golf Classic recently held at the Wolverine Golf Club in Macomb, Mich., by the Donadios will help fund research for SMA, which is just one of the more than 40 types of neuromuscular disease.

“We’re anxious for (researchers) to find a cure,” Tony Donadio said. “With the money we raise, hopefully they will find a cure for muscular dystrophy.”

The Donadios decided to be proactive in helping to find a cure for the disease soon after their daughter was diagnosed with SMA as a toddler. Including this year’s golf outing, the Donadio family has raised nearly $500,000 for the MDA and thousands of people affected by neuromuscular disease in the Metro Detroit area.

More than 300 golfers paid $150 to participate in the 18-hole scramble. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a cocktail party were all included in the festivities, as well as nearly 200 door prizes. Gift certificates, wine, jewelry and gift baskets were among the prizes. Vacation get-a-ways and home appliances were also purchased during a silent auction.

Tony Donadio said the golf outing continues to grow each year and is so successful because it has things to offer that other golf events do not.

“The Golf Classic is not like any other golf outing,” he said. “More and more people are bringing their friends or coming with large groups of people, and the majority of people there leave with prizes — it’s word of mouth success.”

Tony Donadio said Maria’s SMA is a Phase 3 form of the disease, which means that she uses leg braces for muscular stability. Some children with the disease experience a progressive weakness of the leg, hip, shoulder, arm and respiratory muscles. Juvenile SMA affects children ages 1-15, and a wheelchair is often used by the time the person reaches age 30. This form of SMA does not affect the life span of the individual.

“We just want our daughter to realize the same happy childhood as other children,” he said. “We’d rather be a part of the game than on the sidelines, not only for Maria, but for other kids with muscular dystrophy.”

Tony Donadio said Maria has good and bad days like everyone else, but that she’s able to do several things that children without disabilities can do. She participates in piano recitals, hangs out with her two older sisters, Nina and Carla, and enjoys playing golf with her dad.

The Donadio family has already begun plans for next year’s Golf Classic. Tony Donadio said much of their extended family has a hand in making sure the event is a success. His father, Al Donadio, and stepmother, Chris Donadio, start work on the event the day after the golf outing each year. His brother, Al Donadio, sisters, Verna and Les Nevens, cousin, Carey Mason of Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Sterling Heights, and in-laws, Leonard and Julie Bugli and Lisa and Ed Mancini, are all instrumental in coordinating the fund-raiser.

Nearly 60 local sponsors helped fund the event, including: Graphic Solutions of Troy, John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of Clinton Township, Utica and Grosse Pointe Bank One centers, Shelby Township neighbors, Bill and Chris White and Paul and Denise Chirco of the Chirco Title Company, L. D’Agostini & Sons, Inc., of Macomb Township, and Florence Cement Co. of Troy.

Founded in 1950, the Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health organization dedicated to finding a cure for more than 40 neuromuscular diseases. MDA funds research worldwide and currently funds projects at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Michigan State University. MDA operates 230 hospital-affiliated clinics across the country. Local clinics are located at Children’s Hospital in Detroit and the Michigan Institute of Neuromuscular Disorders in Farmington Hills. Services include physical, occupational and respiratory therapy, genetic counseling and testing, social services consultations and year-round patient care.

Back to Public Relations