ZELIENOPLE — TJ Wanamaker, a third grade student at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School, wants to help his 4-year-old brother, Madon, in his fight with a rare disease.

Madon has congenital disorders of glycosylation, a rare disease that makes it hard for him to walk, talk and stay healthy. He is one of only 10 people in the world with this type of CDG.

Monday is World CDG Awareness Day. TJ and the school are raising money Monday and Tuesday as part of the CVE Cares Project for the month of May.

TJ came up with the idea to have this month’s CVE Cares Project to help those with CDG.

“I just wanted to help those people out,” he said. “I’m excited.”

TJ said as of Tuesday, the project had raised about $70. However, he is hopeful that will increase.

Madon was diagnosed with the disease when he was about 2 years old.

“It’s genetic, so he’s had it his whole life,” said the boys’ mother, Susie Wanamaker. “He wasn’t diagnosed with it until December 2014.”

Wanamaker has been a speech therapist for Seneca Valley Middle School and Intermediate High School for about six years.

The family lives in Cranberry Township.

CDG is a group of rare inherited metabolic disorders that affect glycosylation, which is critical to normal organ development throughout the body, particularly the nervous system. CDG only started to be recognized clinically in the 1980s.

Wanamaker said as a result of the disease, Madon suffers from high liver enzymes, bleeding and clotting disorders, developmental delays and seizures.

She also said Madon takes medicine for his kidneys to prevent kidney stones, has his cholesterol checked and has his heart monitored.

Money will be donated to the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. The Children’s Inn is a free, family centered hospital hospitality house on the campus of the NIH.

Students will receive a ticket for one of two prize baskets for every dollar donated. The baskets will be awarded on Tuesday.

“It’s wonderful,” Wanamaker said of the school’s project. “They’ve made it very easy on us. They really have a nice, organized plan for people to do these types of fundraisers.”

For more information on CDG, visit www.cdgcare.com. For more information on the Children’s Inn at the NIH, visit www.childrensinn.org.