The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity raised money this weekend for “Hope for Haven and Hadly,” two 7-year-old twin girls fighting muscular dystrophy.

“What we want to do for this family is relieve stress,” said Terry Matthews, a Kappa Alpha Psi member. “We want to give the most financial and moral support that we can.”

Muscular dystrophy is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass, according to the Mayo Clinic website. With this condition, abnormal genes interfere with the production of proteins needed to form healthy muscles. People who have the disease will eventually lose the ability to walk, some may have trouble breathing or swallowing and there is no cure.

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Matthews, a senior from Chicago studying Education, said he heard about the fundraiser through a mentor. He had the chance to meet both Haven and Hadly Noto and see their mother, an elementary school teacher, on a daily basis and has also met their father, a police officer.

“I can relate because my family worked hard and couldn’t give me everything I needed,” Matthews said. “I understand it because with this situation everyone needs support under the circumstances of a family struggling to provide.”

The Kappas are getting others involved as well. Ten contestants of the “Meet the Queens” court at the 46^th Annual Kappa Karnival Queen Pageant on Saturday helped fundraise for the twins by washing cars and selling food and baked goods.

“As I did research on the event, it touched my heart,” said Cheanell Dotson, one of the Kappa Carnival Queen contestants.

Dotson, a senior from Glenwood studying radio-television, said she saw videos of the two girls smiling and laughing and she knew this disease was slowly and painfully taking them away.

She said seeing that made it her goal to raise as much money as possible.

“I feel as though the good moves and decisions we make are overshadowed by negativity,” Matthews said. “We don’t need to be awarded all the time; it just needs to be known that we’re doing something good.”

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Kappa Alpha Psi also helped the Flint, Mich., water crisis by holding a party in which each guest brought a water bottle to give to the University of Michigan, along with the money raised.

“Word of mouth is the most influential way to spread the word about something, and we’re doing that by being a part of this event,” said Dotson, who is also the director of the Student Programming Council’s television program.

For more information on Muscular Dystrophy Diseases and ways you can help, visit the website here.

Diamond Jones can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3325.