Souhegan Supports 'Hope For Gus' At Finish Line and End Zone

The school community at Souhegan continued its show of support for Gus Dreher and the efforts to find a cure for him and the many other boys like him.

Souhegan High School hosted the Run For Gus 5K and a charity Souhegan Sabers football game on Saturday to raise money towards the Hope For Gus Foundation. This organization was started by Souhegan teach Steve Dreher and his wife Tonya two years ago after their young son Gus was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Steve Dreher said that about $6,5000 was raised over the weekend, not including the touchdown pledges made for each Sabers touchdown against Conval that night. 

Amherst Patch caught up with Dreher before the 5K run/walk Saturday morning, and he said that the enthusiasm from the school community has been overwhelming. He said that students have been contacting him to let him know how inspired they are to make a difference.

The Run For Gus 5K was organized by a senior last year for his project with the help of the  Souhegan Ethics Forum, who sponsored the event again this year. UNH students in a band called Heads or Tails even volunteered their time to play at the 5K run/walk on Saturday.

This is the second year that these two events have been hosted at the high school, and there have been other fundraising efforts as well. Dreher said that over $14,000 was raised last year between all of these events.

This year the Finlay Foundation in Peterborough, which helps children and families in need, has pledged to match the funds raised (up to $2,500) from both the football game and run/walk.

Steve Dreher sent out a a letter thanking the community for their continuing support:

Dear Souhegan,

Once again, I want to offer a profound thank-you to individuals within our community and the community as a whole for a fantastic weekend of fun and fundraising.  I don't think it's possible to express the sense of awe that I have when I think of the efforts that so many people put forth to help Tonya and I as we work to fund research through The Hope for Gus Foundation

The list is long, from advisors who brought your advisees to the theater and facilitated students getting pledges, to Ethics Forum students who organized the Run for Gus yesterday (and took in Gus like he was their little brother) to the young men of our football team who opened their hearts to Gus and were itching to socre more touchdowns for him to the hundreds of students and staff who bought t-shirts for the events.

Thank you to Chris Brooks and Amy Pham for inspiring our students to do good work in the world.  Thanks to Mike Beliveau for reminding his team that they can make a difference, thanks to Steve Goodwin for organizing a 50-50 raffle at the game, thanks to Jeanne Sturges, Jolene and Tom Sawyer for helping staff the Hope for Gus table.  Thanks to Maggie Paul for being the ever-present steady hand behind the scenes.  Thanks to Lisa Kent for facilitating work with advisories.  Thanks to the many faculty members who ran in the race and came to the game to show support (I could list you but I won't for fear I'd miss someone).  Thanks to the countless students who gave countless hours to make all of this happen.  Again, I feel humbled, awed and grateful.

Here's a video that ran on WMUR that captures a little of the magic of the weekend:

http://www.wmur.com/news/sports/friday-night-football/Bedford-Souhegan-win-under-the-lights/-/11662344/16792568/-/3e805d/-/index.html