HOUSTON COUPLE TO CO-CHAIR
MDA’s ALS DIVISION

TUCSON, Ariz., March 1, 2004 — Christopher and Reda Rice of Houston have been named co-chairpersons of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS Division.

The couple will help raise awareness of MDA’s leading efforts in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) through media interviews, speaking engagements and public service announcements.

ALS destroys the nerve cells controlling muscles in healthy adults, ultimately causing complete paralysis while leaving mental function intact. Survival is typically two to five years after diagnosis, and no cure exists.

Christopher Rice, 38, received a diagnosis of ALS in October 2001. The neuromuscular disease has slurred his speech, and affected his strength and mobility.

Rice continues to work for Lincoln Property Co., a Houston management firm. The Rices, who live in a Northwest Houston suburb, have three children: Tori, 7, Mason, 5, and Shelby, 4.

As co-chairpersons of the MDA ALS Division, the couple’s mission will be to communicate to the public the urgent need for a cure for ALS, and to urge donations to support MDA’s worldwide, scientific effort to eradicate the disease.

“We’re honored to speak on behalf of the individuals and families whose lives have been dramatically altered by this disease,” Christopher Rice said. “We’re also proud to be working with MDA, a great organization that’s given our family vital support while aggressively searching for a cure.”

The Rices succeed Steven and Jennifer Bishop, a Denver couple who’ve held the post since November 2002.

MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis said he’s confident that, by sharing their personal experience of the devastating disease, the Rices will powerfully express MDA’s mission and its services for people affected by ALS.

Lewis met the couple last year in Los Angeles at the broadcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, during which they were subjects of a taped family profile and a live interview.

“Christopher and Reda illustrate why it’s urgent that we stop ALS in its tracks,” Lewis said. “They’re a beautiful family who I know will help raise public awareness of the destructiveness of this disease and of MDA’s quest for a cure.”

MDA has been vitally active in ALS research and services for more than 50 years, and has invested more than $155 million in its unparalleled ALS program to date, thanks to donations from the American public.

MDA’s ALS program includes grants to leading researchers worldwide, and medical care at some 230 hospital-affiliated MDA clinics and 30 MDA/ALS research and clinical centers across the country. People with more than 40 other neuromuscular diseases are also treated at MDA clinics.

MDA also assists people with ALS through help with purchase and repair of wheelchairs, purchase of augmentative alternative communication devices, support groups, expert-led seminars, an ALS Web site (www.als-mda.org) and ALS-specific chat rooms (www.mda.org/chat).