Basic Information About MDA

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a national voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education.

MDA is the largest nongovernmental sponsor of neuromuscular disease research.

More than one million Americans are affected by neuromuscular diseases. About 250,000 have some form of muscular dystrophy.

Included in the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases covered by MDA are nine forms of muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), myasthenia gravis, spinal muscular atrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and others.

MDA is the first nonprofit agency to be recognized by the American Medical Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award for "significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity."

Financial

MDA is funded almost entirely by individual, private contributions. MDA seeks no fees from those it serves.

MDA dedicates 77 cents of every dollar it spends directly to services.

You may view the MDA Annual Report online for more information.

Services

Tens of thousands of people affected by neuromuscular diseases visit MDA’s 225 hospital-affiliated clinics and 37 ALS/MDA centers every year.

MDA awards research grants to some 350 teams of scientists and physicians worldwide.

MDA sent more than 4,200 kids with neuromuscular diseases to MDA summer camps in 2007, at a cost to MDA of $800 per camper. There’s no charge to campers’ families.

The Association also:

• helps buy and repair wheelchairs, leg braces and augmentative communication devices;
• facilitates meetings of some 300 MDA support groups;
• provides thousands of free flu vaccines to those affected by neuromuscular diseases;
• conducts an ongoing public education program through its Web sites, publications, videos, seminars and media placements; and
• sponsors professional education programs for MDA clinicians.

Community Programs

MDA’s 200 local offices across the country are a valuable support system, and provide practical information and essential services for people with neuromuscular diseases.

The MDA Art Collection was established in 1992 to focus attention on the creative abilities of individuals with disabilities. The collection includes more than 330 works by adult artists and children, all of whom are affected by neuromuscular diseases.

MDA’s National Task Force on Public Awareness advises the Association about issues of interest and importance to people with disabilities. The group consists of adults who are leaders in their communities and are affected by neuromuscular diseases in MDA's program.

Entertainer Jerry Lewis serves as MDA National Chairman and star of the MDA Labor Day Telethon.

Popular singer Billy Gilman is MDA’s National Youth Chairman. He spearheads the efforts of teens and young adults who help MDA.

Luke Christie, 14, of Due West, S.C., is MDA’s National Goodwill Ambassador. He has spinal muscular atrophy.

Augie and Lynne Nieto of Corona del Mar, Calif., are chairpersons of MDA’s ALS Division. Augie, 49, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was co-founder of Life Fitness and is now chairman of Octane Fitness.

Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon

The first MDA Labor Day Telethon was broadcast in 1966 by just one station in New York City. It was the first televised fund-raising event of its kind to raise more than $1 million.

Some 250,000 volunteers across the country will be involved in the Telethon over this Labor Day weekend.

The 2007 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon is the 42nd annual Labor Day show. It will be broadcast on some 190 “Love Network” stations across the country and can be seen on the Internet at www.mda.org.

Ed McMahon is the anchor of the Telethon, and the 2007 show will be his 40th MDA Telethon.

No tickets are available to see the national Telethon live. We wish it were otherwise, but the best seat in the house is often right in front of your television screen. The show will broadcast this year from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas.

Jerry Lewis and Celebrities

Jerry Lewis receives no pay for his tireless year-round work for MDA. He’s MDA’s "number-one volunteer” and star of the Telethon.

Other celebrities serve as Telethon co-hosts and performers. They receive no pay for their efforts.

No one knows why Jerry Lewis, MDA’s number-one volunteer, chooses to devote so much time to helping people with neuromuscular diseases. He feels it isn’t important why he’s involved; rather, it’s important that he’s involved.