DEAR EDITOR

Dear Editor:

My Irish eyes are smiling because Jackson has done it again! Thousands of area residents -- when they patronized their favorite convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurants and other retail businesses -- brought the luck of the Irish to families affected by muscle-wasting diseases. By purchasing and signing the Shamrocks Against Dystrophy mobiles, they turned these high-traffic venues green with good fortune for St. Patrick's Day.

Thanks to these caring customers, and all the service personnel who added humanitarian value to cash register transactions by asking patrons, "Would you like to buy a Shamrock to help families served by the Muscular Dystrophy Association," Jackson made an incredible contribution to the 17th annual Shamrocks Against Dystrophy campaign.

I'm sure that St. Patrick is as grateful as are the million Americans served by MDA for the $9 million that Shamrocks raised nationally this year. This sharing of the green has helped speed MDA-funded research at the University of Missouri, Washington University in St. Louis, and around the globe.

Moreover, this pot-o-gold is helping maintain the national network of 230 MDA clinics. The services of these hospital-affiliated clinics, along with MDA research, resulted in MDA becoming the first organization honored by the American Medical Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award "for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity." In Missouri, MDA has five clinics, including the MDA clinic at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

By taking part in Shamrocks and other local MDA events, by calling in pledges to the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon broadcast on KFVS-TV, Channel 12, Jackson US.A. Signal readers continue to make a huge difference for families throughout Missouri and across the nation. On behalf of my niece and others living with neuromuscular diseases, I thank you!

Sincerely,

Maureen McGovern

National Vice President

& Shamrocks Chairperson

Muscular Dystrophy Association