Darien Football Players Plan 'Lifting Grace' Fundraiser

DARIEN, Conn. -- The Darien High School football team will join players from Norwalk's Brien McMahon High School for the sixth annual Lifting Grace fundraisers Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14, at Darien High School.

Darien football players and Grace Wohlberg will be at "Lifting Grace," a weightlifting fundraiser, on March 13 and 14 at Darien High School.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Tom Renner

03/10/2014 4:30 a.m.

The players will lift weights and raise money to support research and develop a cure for Rasmussen’s encephalitis, a rare neurological disorder.

Inspired by Grace Wohlberg, sister of former Darien player Mike Wohlberg who has the disease, the two teams will lift weights with a goal of reaching $15,000.

People who want to support this year’s lift-a-thon, with a penny per pound or a flat amount, can make checks payable to The RE Children’s Project and send c/o Maureen Tyrrell, 2 Four Acres Road, Darien, CT 06820.

People can also visit Darien High School to support the football teams and the cause on the days of the event.

Rasmussen’s encephalitis typically strikes children between the ages of 2 and 15. Within one to two years, it causes paralysis of half the body and frequent serious seizures.

The standard treatment is a hemispherectomy, in which half the brain is removed. Grace Wohlberg underwent the procedure in 2009, when she was just 10. Afterward, her father, Seth Wohlberg, started the RE Children's Project, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funding research into the disease.

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