Waukesha North students taking the Fight to muscular dystrophy

North junior Sam Weinkauf was a catalyst behind the event.

The cupboard in Waukesha is awfully full when it comes to young, up-and-coming music talent.

After all, local teenagers Sam Weinkauf, Becca Richter, Matthew Schwanke and Jenna Lynne have all made a name for themselves with their music abilities in recent years.

The four Waukesha North High School students will demonstrate their talent once again on Friday night in the Fight Night 2012 concert at the North Auditorium.

But this will be a different type of concert for the quartet. They won't be trying to win a competition, to impress judges or sell their CDs. They'll be using their talents to raise money and awareness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in children.

It primarily affects boys and is an incurable rapidly-worsening form of muscular dystrophy that results in a progressive loss of strength. It is caused by a gene mutation that encodes for dystrophin leaving muscle cells easily damaged.

According to EndDuchenne.org, signs and symptoms, which can be highlighted by delays in early developmental milestones such as sitting, walking and/or talking, usually appear between the ages of 2 and 3 and first affects the muscles of the pelvis, upper arms and upper legs. By late childhood, most are unable to walk.

All the proceeds from the concert - tickets are $5 - go to the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the largest nonprofit organization in the United States that focuses on the fight against Duchenne through funding research, raising awareness, promoting advocacy, connecting the community and broadening treatment options.

Using talent for good

Richter, a senior at North who has been honored quite a bit recently for her music, is happy to use her talents in other ways.

"I like to help out with charity events," said Richter, Waukesha's 2012 Distinguished Young Woman. "I like to support these type of things. It means a lot to me. This is helping me expand what I should be doing with my music."

The idea for the concert, which is from 6 to 9 p.m., dates back to when Weinkauf performed at a benefit concert at Waukesha West last year.

It first sparked his interest about using his talents to help in certain causes, but it was not until this past fall when Weinkauf and Richter performed at a local bowling alley for Duchenne that the idea blossomed.

That night, he met Gretchen Egner, the National Honor Society adviser at Waukesha South High School, who was there on behalf of her young son who suffers from Duchenne.

Weinkauf and Richter learned more about the disease and decided that they could do more to help others through their music.

"Doing that performance made us think, 'Why can't we do that at our school?' " said Weinkauf, a junior at North.

So Weinkauf and Richter - who later recruited Schwanke, a senior, and Lynne, a sophomore, to join them - went to work on writing a proposal for the event and presented it to school administrators, all of whom were quite impressed by what the four were doing.

Hoping for a big crowd

Each will perform solo acts before ending with a group performance, written by Richter. However, before they go on stage for the night, Egner's husband will address the crowd and the students.

When Gretchen Egner, who would have been there but will be running a marathon to raise money for Duchenne in Florida, first learned about the students' efforts, Weinkauf said she was blown away.

"She was really grateful," Weinkauf said. "There were lots of thank you's."

Indeed.

"They weren't even my students at South, so that's awesome," Egner said.

The group hopes many fellow students, staff and the community come out for the event despite high school basketball on the same night.

"A lot of people are talking about it," Richter said. "One of my administrators keeps talking about it every time I see him, so we're really expecting a lot of people outside of the school to come."

All of them have high expectations for the event. But on this night, it won't be about them. It will be about a disease that 20,000 children learn they have every year.

Weinkauf, who hopes to make Fight Night an annual event, is glad he will have a part in helping them.

"I was taken aback when I went to the bowling alley," said Weinkauf recalling that fall night. "I thought it was pretty cool to be able to help someone like this and it definitely made we want to keep doing this.

"It's definitely empowering."

At a glance

What: Fight Night 2012

When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

Where: Waukesha North High School Auditorium

2222 Michigan Ave., Waukesha

Cost: $5 at the door or you can buy tickets at Martha Merrell's Books & Cafe in downtown Waukesha

Duchenne By the Numbers

25 The age death usually occurs

12 By this age the ability to walk may be lost

10 The age in which the person may need braces

6 The age the person shows symptoms (fatigue, frequent falls, muscle weakness, difficulty with motor skills)

1 In every 3,500 male infants suffer from this incurable disease

To learn more about Duchenne, see EndDuchenne.org