Bojangles’ presented a check for $112,712 in support of pediatric Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) Research at the McColl-Lockwood Laboratory at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition, the Leon Levine Foundation will match the funds contributed by Bojangles’, under a “challenge” arrangement with CMC’s Levine Children’s Hospital, bringing the total donation to more than $225,000.

Funds were raised through Bojangles’ 11th Annual Golf Tournament to benefit MDA and will aid the team at CMC as they search for a cure for LGMD2I, which affects approximately 5,000 people in the U.S. and most often damages muscles in the pelvic and shoulder girdles. When LGMD develops in children, the progression is generally faster and more disabling, and over time the disease causes affected individuals to lose muscle bulk and strength, often leading to their being dependent on a wheelchair or scooter for mobility.

“Bojangles’ is honored to partner with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and support its research and summer camps,” says Bojangles’ president and CEO Randy Kibler. “The breakthrough research being conducted by the McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research at Carolinas Medical Center has the potential to change so many lives, and we consider it a privilege to be part of these efforts.”

The McColl-Lockwood Laboratory, housed in CMC’s James G. Cannon Research Center, is one of the leading international research facilities in the search for a cure for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. The Laboratory is also pursuing groundbreaking research in the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and has received significant funding from the National Institutes of Health along with generous private support.

“This substantial grant from Bojangles’ and MDA will play a critical role in allowing Carolinas Medical Center to greatly improve the diagnosis of LGMD and also to be the first to develop systematic clinical benchmarks for evaluating various therapies for LGMD, all of which will go far to speed the development of a treatment and hopefully a cure,” says Susan Sparks, MD, PhD, the geneticist and researcher at Levine Children’s Hospital who is the recipient of this year’s grant.

During Bojangles’ 12-year partnership with MDA, the company has raised more than $1.2 million for the organization.