Donations to MDA Mattie Fund Honor Memory of Valiant Youngster

6/23/2004

From: Bob Mackle of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 520-529-5317, bobmackle@mdausa.org

TUCSON, Ariz., June 23 -- The Muscular Dystrophy Association has established a memorial fund in memory of Mattie J.T. Stepanek, its National Goodwill Ambassador a best- selling poet who died yesterday.

Mattie's mother, Jeni, has requested that memorial donations be made to the MDA Mattie Fund. The fund will be used for medical research to help find treatments and cures for childhood neuromuscular diseases.

"We're honored that Jeni has chosen to observe Mattie's memory in a way that will benefit generations to come," MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis said. "It's a decision in keeping with Mattie's valiant spirit."

Mattie, 13, died in Washington, D.C., after a long battle with mitochondrial myopathy, a neuromuscular disease that also affects his mother and took the lives of Mattie's three siblings.

Contributions to the fund may be made online at http://www.mdausa.org or sent to MDA Mattie Fund, P.O. Box 66002, Tucson, AZ 85728.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.