Souhegan Touchdowns Will Raise Money To Cure Rare Disease

The Souhegan Sabers football team will join forces with the Hope for Gus Foundation to host a game where everyone wins this Friday.

In order to raise funds to help fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the Sabers are building awareness of this fatal genetic disorder that afflicts one in every 3500 boys born each year. By making a “touchdown pledge” – a donation for every Saber touchdown, Saber fans and community members can also help make a difference.

This charity game will be against Con Val on Friday, Sept. 28 beginning at 7 p.m. 

Steve Dreher, a teacher at Souhegan High School, and his wife Tonya (of Peterborough, NH), started The Hope for Gus Foundation in 2010 after their 4 year old son, Gus was diagnosed with DMD. “It is the most common and the most severe form of muscular dystrophy,” says Dreher, “Gus’ prognosis is that he will be in a wheel chair by 11 or12. He is not expected to live through his 20’s.”

The Drehers are convinced that they, in collaboration with other foundations and with the support of the community, can help change that prognosis. “Last year, the Sabers raised $8,000,” says Dreher, “all of that money is now in the hands of researchers.”

“There is so much exciting research,” says Tonya Dreher, “we are literally in a race against time to save Gus and this generation of children with DMD. With the sort of community support that we see in The Touchdown Pledge, we believe we can win that race.”

Mike Belliveau, Souhegan’s head football coach agrees, “Finding a cure or treatment within Gus’s lifetime is achievable. There is a lot of excitement about this cause. The athletes on the football team understand that they can make a real difference – that they are playing for something bigger.” Maggie Paul, Souhegan’s Community Service coordinator who has also helped organize the event, says, “This is an opportunity for students to see their service within a much larger context – the impact is both local and global.”

The Sabers held this fundraiser last year and raised over $8,000 for DMD research. They hope to beat that amount at this week's game.

Like last year, the athletes and community will see the local connection as Gus leads the team onto the field, and accompanies the captains for the coin-toss. To remind students of the global connection, Dreher has presented to students at Souhegan, discussing The Duchenne Alliance, a collaboration of foundations that Hope for Gus helped start 2 years ago in Portsmouth, NH.

The Duchenne Alliance currently has over 30 members on four continents. “We are able to co-fund projects that would be out of our reach otherwise.” says

Tonya Dreher. “The power of the Duchenne Alliance is that it allows a Friday night fundraiser at Souhegan High School to really impact ongoing research of top scientist inthe world…it’s pretty exciting!” Information about Hope for Gus and The Duchenne Alliance, will be available at the game.

To make a “Touchdown” pledge for Friday's game, please email hopeforgus@yahoo.com or call 603-464-9588. For more information on Hope for Gus, visit www.hopeforgus.org.

The 2nd annual Run For Gus 5K race/walk will be taking place on Saturday, Sept. 29 and will also be raising funds for The Hope For Gus Foundation.