Billings, Montana: Calves to Cure fundraiser

In the heart of Yellowstone County, a Billings, MT family – the Heatons – are embarking on their third annual “Calves to Cure” fundraiser with CureDuchenne, leading global nonprofit dedicated to funding and finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, on Thursday, September 16th.

Taking place at Billings Livestock Commission Co., the Heaton family is raising money for research to find a cure and viable treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare genetic disease that destroys muscle tissue and is currently incurable. Boys, including Paul and Laura Heaton’s son Grant (6), diagnosed with Duchenne don’t make it out of their 20’s and are wheelchair bound sometime between age 10 to 15.

Hay stocks for hungry cattle in Montana are currently low and summer pastures are already dry from the widespread drought, which leaves ranchers little choice but to cut herds, so why not support a worthy cause while you’re at it?

The Heaton family started “Calves to Cure” calling for Montana and other neighboring state residents to donate their calves, yearling, cow etc. to a larger cause. Residents selling their cattle can choose to donate all of their check for that animal, a set dollar amount or a percentage of the sale price to CureDuchenne for research to find and fund treatments and, ideally, a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. To date, the “Calves to Cure” has raised over $60,000 for CureDuchenne.

We thought this was a great feel-good local story that you’d be interested in covering leading up to the event encouraging people to donate their cattle for an amazing cause and/or a post-event story to discuss how much money was raised by the Heatons and CureDuchenne for DMD research. We’ll be in touch in the days to come, but in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions and we’d love to set up an interview with the Heaton’s and CureDuchenne.

–CureDuchenne