THIRD HEARTSONGS GALA HONORS WORLD PEACE HOPES
OF LATE POET, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR MATTIE STEPANEK

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2005 — International dignitaries, award-winning performers and media celebrities will be among 700 guests at the Third Annual Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Heartsongs Gala at the Ritz-Carlton on Feb. 26.

The event, which supports MDA programs, is a tribute to 13-year-old Mattie J. T. Stepanek, best-selling poet and peacemaker who died in June from a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Mattie was MDA’s National Goodwill Ambassador. His mother Jeni will be a keynote speaker and award presenter.

The event also will honor David Reznick, chairman of Reznick Group and this year’s Heartsongs Award winner. Silver Diner CEO and event chairman Robert Giaimo will present the award that honors long-standing support of MDA’s research efforts to find treatments for devastating neuromuscular diseases.

Among attendees at the event will be Turkish Ambassador Osman Faruk Logoglu, Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar, French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, British Embassy Counselor of Global Issues Julian Braithwaite and Italian Ambassador Sergio Vento. Their presence reflects Mattie’s desire to travel the world and teach peace.

In the same vein, the theme of this year’s gala is international in scope. Guests will travel on the “Orient Express” to experience the culture, entertainment, décor and food of exotic climes.

Silent and live auctions during the course of the evening will include prizes such as a trip for two on the real Orient Express in Asia.

Top-name performers will include world-renowned swing and big band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, five-time Grammy- and Oscar-winning recording artist Christopher Cross and country sensation Billy Gilman.

Gala sponsors include Silver Diner, Reznick Group, Provident Bank, ADM, Monsanto, the Steiner Family, Arent Fox, Dupont Fabros, IAFF, L&M Produce, Orient Express, Richmond Capitol Management, Safeway, SYSCO, Tobia and Linda Mercuro, TOP Printing and Graphics, Inc., and Velocity Fitness.

MDA is a national voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 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 and local businesses.