MDA receives its largest donation in its history - $6.4 million

From the Arizona Daily Star:

The Tucson-based Muscular Dystrophy Association has received a gift of $6.4 million — the largest donation in the national nonprofit's 59-year history.

The gift, announced Monday , is from the estate of North Carolina resident Rachel Ann Perkinson, who suffered from muscular dystrophy.

The executor of Perkinson's estate could not be reached for comment.

Officials with the Muscular Dystrophy Association said the money will be used to build a 15,000-square-foot research center at its Sunrise Drive headquarters.

The new Rachel Ann Perkinson Center is expected to initially add about a half-dozen jobs, and construction is set to begin in 2010, said Jim Brown, the MDA's vice president of public relations. Brown said the number of jobs, which would be in the areas of research and administration, could grow.

"It's absolutely fantastic news. We are so pleased to be able to make this happen in an otherwise difficult economy," Brown said. "To have this type of support will mean the world to our research and health care services efforts."

The national association employs 1,264 people, including 164 at its Tucson headquarters.

Brown said the building's design will be low-impact, and officials are hopeful it will qualify for LEED certification — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which is an internationally-recognized green-building certification system.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in 1950 by a group of adults with muscular dystrophy, parents of children with muscular dystrophy, and a physician-scientist studying the disorder. Since its earliest days it has been energized by its national chairman, entertainer Jerry Lewis.

The organization has had a presence in Tucson since 1955 and in 1990 moved its national headquarters here from New York City.

Its facility was constructed 17 years ago on land donated by an act of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and with a $1 million construction grant from the state.
The association's aim is curing muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related neuromuscular diseases by funding worldwide research.

More than 1 million Americans are affected by neuromuscular diseases. The association also provides comprehensive health-care and support services, advocacy and education.

Perkinson died in April 2003 at the age of 67 and had lived with muscular dystrophy for 50 years, Brown said. Her brother, who also suffered from muscular dystrophy, died in 1990. Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of hereditary diseases of the muscular system characterized by weakness and wasting of skeletal muscles.

Since much of the Perkinson family's assets were in real estate, it took some time to convert the land into cash for a donation, Brown explained.

"At a time when the current economic crisis has forced MDA to cut every possible expense, this incredible gift enables us to make an urgently needed investment in the association's future that would never have been possible without the amazing generosity of Rachel Ann Perkinson," Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. "We're deeply grateful to all the MDA contributors who are helping us weather the storm we're facing, and especially to this remarkable person who made possible this lifesaving bequest."