Richmond, Virginia (PRWEB) April 24, 2008 -- Fight SMA (www.fightsma.org), an international nonprofit group headquartered in Richmond, VA, has been awarded two grants, each given to support national conferences organized by FightSMA.

The Toy Industry Foundation (www.toyindustryfoundation.org) has awarded a $35,000 grant to meet expenses associated with FightSMA's "Fighter Mom™ Friday", held May 9 in New York City. The workshop will provide "mothers and others" in the greater New York City area with tools and strategies to enable them to become more effective advocates in their struggle against diseases and health conditions that affect their children.

"The Fighter Mom™ program gathers up the collective experience and wisdom of moms who have been fighting against one specific childhood disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and shares those very practical lessons with any mom fighting any childhood disease," said Martha Slay, FightSMA president and a creator of the Fighter Mom program.

Two federal agencies, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Office of Rare Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have jointly awarded $33,000 to FightSMA for expenses related to FightSMA's annual research and family conference in Washington, D.C., April 20 - 22, 2008.

"We are extremely grateful for each of these grants," said Ms. Slay. "They help us to equip and empower larger numbers of families to become involved in initiatives that will improve the lives of their children and others."

FightSMA is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, organized in 1991 to strategically accelerate research for a treatment and a cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of infant death. For more information, please visit www.fightsma.org.

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