ST. PETERS GIRL CHOSEN
MDA 2005 NATIONAL GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 30, 2004 — Morgan Fritz, 6, of St. Peters, Mo., has been named the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 2005 National Goodwill Ambassador.

Morgan and her family will travel the country in 2005 to represent families served by MDA and affected by neuromuscular disorders. They'll take part in fund-raisers and meetings of national MDA sponsors. Morgan will be featured in MDA promotional materials used nationwide and will appear on the 2005 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day weekend.

“Morgan’s smile lights up a room, and absolutely melts my heart,” said MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis. “I’m confident that she and her wonderful family will do a great job helping Americans understand why they should support MDA so we can wipe out neuromuscular diseases.”

Morgan is the daughter of Ron and Sue Fritz, and has two siblings: Madeline, 9, and Austin, 4. Ron is a fire fighter and paramedic for the Normandy Fire Department, and Sue is a stay-at-home mom.

Morgan has spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the arms, legs and torso. She's able to stand and take a few steps with leg braces and a walker, and uses a standing wheelchair for mobility.

Morgan is a kindergartner at Warren Elementary in St. Peters. She enjoys swimming, horseback riding, playing with her siblings, collecting purses and stickers, and likes anything with a “Hello Kitty” or “Disney Princesses” theme. Morgan likes to take photos, and is interested in becoming a photographer when she grows up.

She has already become a familiar face on a national scale for MDA. She and her parents were profiled and interviewed live on the 2003 and 2004 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. Morgan and Ron, a member of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local No. 2665, were pictured on the cover of Parade Magazine on the weekend of the MDA Labor Day Telethon in 2004. Inside the magazine, the family was featured in an article about the 50th anniversary of the partnership between MDA and the IAFF.

Locally, Morgan and her family take part in many events and fund-raisers for MDA, and Morgan was serving as MDA’s 2004 Goodwill Ambassador for Missouri when she was selected for the national role. She is looking forward to attending MDA summer camp for the first time in 2005.

Morgan succeeds the late Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a best-selling poet who served three consecutive terms. He passed away in June 2004 from effects of mitochondrial myopathy, a genetic neuromuscular disease.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services and far-reaching professional and public health education.

MDA-funded researchers have isolated the gene that, when defective, leads to the disintegration of motor neurons (nerve cells that control the movement of voluntary muscles) and causes various types of SMA. MDA-funded scientists are rapidly uncovering clues to potential SMA treatments, while MDA clinics provide medical management for children and adults affected by the disease.

Morgan receives services at the MDA clinic at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, one of MDA’s 235 hospital-affiliated clinics nationwide.

The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.

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