Jay Willis's son Benjamin has spinal muscular atrophy. Since 2011, Willis's test-prep company Metric Test Preparations donates 10% of August sales to MDA research, including a Biogen trial that appears to halt SMA progression. Visit mometrics.com/mda to donate, buy test prep, or share Benjamin's story.
Well, Metric Test Preparations is all about education through test preparation, but they are now tackling a new cause. And you guys have actually been doing this for 4 years, and of course Jay Willis joins us with the fight that you guys have joined, which of course is helping MDA find a cure. Right. And talk a little bit about why you got involved with this.
So when our son Benjamin was 2 and a half, he's 9 now, we discovered he has spinal muscular atrophy, which is a form of muscular dystrophy. And then so I I had worked with the company when he was diagnosed, and in 2011 they approached me with a gracious opportunity to help with just his condition. I felt like the best way to help was through funding research. So every August since then, this is the 5th year now, we, during the month of August, we donate 10% of sales that come in through my division to go directly toward neuromuscular research through MDA.
Wow, that is so beautiful. So kind of talk about the difference in The money's going towards research. How are we doing with research?
It's going really well, actually. There are a couple studies that have really taken off, and one in particular by Biogen, it's a pharmaceutical company, that looks like it actually stops the progression of the disorder, because generally it's a progressive disorder that gets worse over time.
All right, okay, so how can people get involved?
So if you visit mometrics.com/mda, there you can read a story about Benjamin, and then if you or anybody you know has need for any test preparation material, there's a catalog there you can kind of browse around and look. If you don't, there is a place there where you can donate directly to MDA, even if it's just $5. You know, if enough people donated $5, it would add up to a lot very quickly.
Oh yeah, that would be billions.
Yeah, so, and then at a minimum, there's a place there where you can share it on social media. So Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, just share it if nothing else, 'cause you never know who might be willing to help.
And just talk a little bit about Bowmetric and what it does. I mean, does it help you Prepare for any type of test, or?
Right, so the company started in 2002, and we offer test preparation material for over 2,000 different standardized exams like SAT, ACT, GED, GRE for graduate school, STAR exams, teacher certification exams, about anything you can think of, we offer test preparation material for.
And really quickly, what would you wanna say to people out there, you know, about giving, about why it's so important to support this organization?
You know, I think most people think that, What difference can I make? You know, what difference would $5 make or $10 make? And certainly that's true if just one person did, maybe it wouldn't make that big of a difference, but if each person just gave $5 or $10, it would really add up to a lot. And this in particular, I know a lot of times with things you help fund, you may or may not feel like it's progressing or getting any closer to a cure. This thing in particular, it's very close to a cure. So the money that's raised for this is actually benefiting immediately, like right away.
And keeps families— keeps that hope, you know, right? Yeah, that your son will be able to walk. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
