Along with her daughter Megan, FightSMA president Martha Slay is featured on the cover and inside the May issue of Richmond Parents Monthly. With this month’s edition focusing on Mother’s Day, the magazine highlights Martha’s efforts to raise research funding and awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and how this work lead to the creation of FightSMA’s Fighter Mom program.

From the article:

Twenty-two years ago, Martha Slay became a mom. And about 21 years ago, she became a Fighter Mom.

Although those weren’t the words she used at the time, that’s when her son Andrew was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, the number one genetic killer of babies in the U.S. Martha felt compelled to do something. That something was Andrew’s Buddies, an organization she and her husband Joe founded in 1991 to raise money for SMA research and spread awareness of the disease. Over the past 17 years, the organization has evolved into FightSMA, with chapters across the county that have raised more than $5 million for research.

FightSMA also supports parents whose children have been diagnosed with SMA, helping them becomes advocates—fighters—for their children.

About three years ago, recognizing that mothers of children with other diseases or difficulties were contacting FightSMA for advice and encouragement, the organization created the “Fighter Mom” program.

“We were blown away with what moms were sharing” about becoming activists, said Martha. That collective wisdom is gathered into the Fighter Mom manual. Meant to help parents harness their passion to protect their children, the book is full of nuts-and-bolts advice about raising funds, working with researchers and talking to congresspeople. More information and a link to order the free manual is at www.fightermom.org.

The read the entire article, visit the Richmond Parents Monthly website.

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