Rita and Shawn Chenier consider themselves blessed to be raising four young, healthy, very active children, as well as their 17-year-old nephew, Joshua, and Scooby the family dog.
Both of them commute daily on the Ortega Highway to jobs in Orange County and often their biggest challenge is just finding time to squeeze everything into a single day.
But all that will be thrown out the window Saturday when all seven of them embark on what may be one of their best and most satisfying family outings ever. And they'll build that Father's Day weekend memory while at the same time fighting a deadly disease.
On a national day of fundraising for Cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the Cheniers have chosen to climb Mount San Jacinto, which at 10,900-feet is the second-highest peak in Southern California. They'll be one of at least 24 teams across America that will climb mountains and skyscrapers to raise awareness of the disease as well as money to fight it.
"Oh, we're gonna make it," said Rita Chenier. "We're going to make it to the summit. It may take several hours, but we will make it."
The Cheniers' team includes Joshua; Rita and her husband, Shawn; and their children, Daisey, 13; Michael, 10; Ian, 9; and Molli, 8.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is one of the deadliest genetic disorders that attacks young boys and usually kills them by the time they reach their 20s. It affects one in every 3,500 boys worldwide and an estimated 20,000 babies are born with it each year. It's mostly hereditary, but anyone can be born with it.
Rita Chenier's involvement in the event, known as Climb to Cure Duchenne, started last fall when she took a job working in the Cure Duchenne office in Newport Beach. That's when she met her boss, Debra Miller, whose only child, 13-year-old son Hawken, has Duchenne. Rita says it's often hard to get the two of them out of her head.
"My children are all healthy and when I kiss them goodnight, I'm thankful for that," she said. "But when Debra kisses her son goodnight, she's not even sure he's going to wake up in the morning. So that's why we're doing this; we're in a race against time."
While the Cheniers are an active family, hiking to the top of a mountain is not something they would normally do. But the seed was planted on a recent camping trip to O'Neill Regional Park in Orange County's Trabuco Canyon, where they all took to the trails and enjoyed it, Rita said.
But Mt. San Jacinto is a different story, especially for a mother who was raised in Huntington Beach and a father raised near Redondo Beach.
"I've done a lot of extreme sports, like snowboarding and mountain biking," said Shawn Chenier, whose job is architectural design and construction. "But this will be the biggest hike I've ever tried."
They'll start by taking the 2,000-foot tram up the Palm Springs side of the mountain. From there it's about a five-mile hike to the summit, where there may still be snow on the ground and temperatures possibly 40 degrees lower than what they'd find in Palm Springs. They'll pack ready-made meals and water. And they'll all be wearing powder-blue T-shirts, commemorating the Climb to Cure.
So far, the family has raised about $5,400 and has increased its goal to $10,000. Other teams from Rita's office will be climbing Mt. Shasta in Northern California and Mt. Baldy north of Ontario.
Perhaps the most ready to take this trek among the Chenier children is Michael, who, according to his mother, knows no fear. Recently, he greeted her with a young rattlesnake he found in the backyard of their home near Bell Mountain. Based on something he saw on TV, he picked it up and put it in a jar.
But while he may be a bit of a daredevil, Michael also speaks well for the whole family when it comes to making this hike.
"It's a good reason to help people," he said, "and to raise money for Hawken."
Call staff writer Jim Rothgeb at 951-676-4315, ext. 2621.
Climb to Cure Duchenne
To donate specifically to the Chenier family climb, go to: www.firstgiving.com/chenierfamily
To donate to Cure Duchenne, go to: www.cureduchenne.org
