Walk Strong to Cure JM 2026: Jenny Simmons

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Walk Strong to Cure JM Nashville

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026

Time: Check-in begins at 9:00 a.m.

Location: Pinkerton Park - Tinkerbell Shelter

405 Murfreesboro Rd, Franklin, TN 37064

RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/osaZoVFuSjgBUWfh6

In 2022, at five years old, Lucy was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), an ultra-rare autoimmune disease. I was out of the country when Jenny heard that diagnosis for the first time. I remember pacing around in the dark outside of a meeting with my phone pressed to my ear, trying desperately to understand through both our tears the new language that accompanies a rare disease diagnosis.

JDM works by turning Lucy's own immune system against her, inflammation attacking her skin and muscles. For a five-year-old, that meant the ordinary stuff of childhood like a summer afternoon outside, a birthday party, a dance recital, became something we had to plan around, sometimes something we had to say no to. That's the cost nobody warns you about when you hear "autoimmune disease": not just the disease itself, but the version of childhood it quietly steals.

What got us through was finding Cure JM, the only organization in the country solely dedicated to improving the lives of kids with juvenile myositis. Fewer than 5,000 children in the U.S. carry this diagnosis, and there are currently no FDA-approved treatments for it. The medicines Lucy's rheumatology team uses are borrowed from childhood cancer protocols. They are lifesaving, but with side effects that can follow a child for life. Cure JM funds the research that most pharmaceutical companies won't: the patient population is too small, the return too uncertain. So families like ours fund it ourselves.

That's what Music City Walk Strong to Cure JM event is. On Saturday, September 19th, 9–11 AM, at Pinkerton Park in Franklin, TN, we're walking again with music, snacks, a raffle, activities for kids, and a short walk together as a group around the park. Not to raise awareness in the abstract, but because every dollar raised goes directly toward:

Research into better treatments and someday soon, a cure
Care for families like ours navigating a diagnosis with no roadmap
Education so more doctors recognize and understand JDM early

If you would like to help us fund the research Lucy's care team is counting on, use the DONATE NOW button on the right side of this page. Or checks can be made out to: Cure JM, with "Walk2026 Lucy Simmons" in the memo, mailed to Cure JM, P.O. Box 45768, Baltimore, MD 21297.

Our team goal is $5,000; the whole event is aiming for $45,000. That's not a round number for its own sake — it's the difference between treatments still borrowed from another disease and treatments built for kids like Lucy.

Thank you for walking, giving, and believing alongside us.

Achievements

Your gift gives hope.

Personal Progress:

of Goal

$30,799 Raised

$31,000.00

Fundraising Honor Roll

Anonymous Anonymous

Chris McGurk

$3,000

Leetz Family Match

$500

Roger and Kay Thiele - go team Lucy

Sophia Reimer

$250

Jonathan & Carrie Thiele

$250

Anonymous

Jacqueline & Gary Lane

$103

Go Lucy! Aunt Betty & Uncle David love you!

Brown & Debbie Bannister: praying for a cure!

$103

Grandpa. WTG Lucy! You are STRONG!

$103

The Briner Institute

$103

Jacqueline

$103

Roger and Kay Thiele

$100

The Miller Crews loves you! Cheering on the walk from Texas.

Tyler

$51

Ilagene and Howell Simmons

$51

We love you Lucy!

$51

McHale Family

$51

Shaun Dean

$51

Sherry McHale

$51

Makenna Tate, friend & classmate of Lucy

$51

Christine Stern

$50

Hannah Cloutier

$50

Anonymous

Shaun Dean

$25

Sherry Strange

$25

Misti Miller Cooper

$25

Cara Barrows

$10

Make an impact today - Support Team Lucy