ABOUT THE MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association)
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary national health agency - a dedicated partnership between scientists and concerned citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans. Your local MDA office, one of some 180 nationwide, is available to serve anyone with one of the neuromuscular diseases in the Association's program. Energized by its national chairman, Jerry Lewis, who has been the Association's number-one volunteer for 50 years, MDA today is one of the world's leading voluntary health agencies fostering research and medical care. Programs available through your local MDA office are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors. The Association receives no government grants or funding from the United Way.
There is no single disease called muscular dystrophy. The term designates a group of hereditary muscle-destroying disorders, which vary in inheritance pattern, age of onset, initial muscles attacked and rate of progression.
MDA works in our community to combat neuromuscular diseases such as Duchenne and Amotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease) through (1) basic and applied scientific investigation, (2) local comprehensive programs of medical services and clinical care, and (3) widespread professional and public health education. Thanks to the MDA Labor Day Telethon, brought to you and thousands of other viewers in our area by our “Love Network” TV station, KSFY, and many other local fund-raising projects involving all sectors of the community, MDA has been able to organize and maintain a variety of programs and services.
MDA is the first nonprofit organization honored with the American Medical Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award “for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity.”
What Your Dollars Will Buy
Contribution Service(s)
- $25 Flu Shot
- $85 One minute of research
- $100 One support group session
- $150 One physical, occupational or respiratory therapy consultation
- $200 Professional fees related to initial diagnostic work-up at an MDA clinic
- $500 Assists one person for one year with the repair of a wheelchair or leg braces
- $800 Sends one child to MDA summer camp
- $2,000 Assists one person with the purchase of a wheelchair, leg braces or communication device
77.4% of every dollar MDA spends goes directly to research, health care services and education, the rest to fund raising and administration.
MDA has provided $84.9 million this year for its Health Care Services program.
MDA has provided $22.2 million this year for its Professional and Public Health Education program.
MDA has provided $34.2 million this year for research, funding some 400 projects worldwide.
MDA maintains some 240 hospital-affiliated clinics, including 34 MDA/ALS centers.
MDA clinics are staffed by teams of top health professionals skilled in the diagnosis and medical management of neuromuscular diseases. Services provided at MDA clinics may include occupational therapy, selected diagnostic tests, genetic counseling, respiratory therapy and more.
