When asked why they've gathered at Telegraph Trail Park on Wednesday morning, April 4, little ones with the Walnut Grove Family Daycare Group offered up some straightforward and interesting answers.

"Because it's hop day!" a girl enthusiastically remarked.

"We're hopping up to the sky!" a boy added.

The group of tykes and their caregivers from different Walnut Grove daycares got together for the 19th year to participate in the Hop for Muscular Dystrophy.

The Hop serves as an educational awareness program as well as a fundraiser. Each year the Walnut Grove group raises, on average, $1,300 in donations through pledge forms and heading into the April 4 "hop-a-thon," the total amount raised over the previous 18 years totalled $24,997, all of which goes to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

"They [the children] know it's 'hop-athon,'" organizer Eileen Stewart said. "It's also a good get-together for the ladies who are working in their own homes. It's fun."

Money raised is used to fund research, support client service programs, and provide funding for essential medical and mobility equipment to people facing the daily challenge of living with a neuromuscular disorder.

The term "neuromuscular disorder" describes a wide range of disorders characterized by progressive wasting and weakness of the voluntary muscles that control body movement.

At Telegraph Trail, the boys and girls wore bunny ears and did a few warm-up exercises before hopping in place for two minutes, for those who can't hop.

tlandreville@langleyadvance.com