Hull & Co., Sammons Insurance Join as Sponsors for MDA Event

The Greater Dallas Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced its fifth annual celebrity waiters’ dinner, 7 UP “Serving Up a Cure”, will take place Nov. 15, at the International Apparel Mart. Once again, the event features involvement by several Dallas-area insurance organizations, including Hull & Co. and Sammons Insurance Group.

Proceeds will benefit MDA’s research of Duchenne dystrophy, one of the 43 neuromuscular diseases included in the Association’s research program. The event raised $205,000 raised last year.

Major sponsors of the event include William G. Rickett & Associates Investments & Finance, Mrs. Sally Shaw, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Young, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Ben Jared and Hull & Company General Agency Inc. Patron sponsors include Micropac Industries Inc., Yonack Iron & Metal Co., Blume & Stoddard, The Law Offices of Bert Starr, Richard and Sharla Martin, Sammons Insurance Group, Gary Fate and Margaret McCann.

Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc., an MDA national corporate sponsor for the past 29 years, is the presenting sponsor for the fifth year in a row. The company is committed to MDA and has raised funds and awareness nationally in the search for treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases.

Activities scheduled for the fund-raising event include a cocktail reception with entertainment by jazz saxophonist David Carr, Jr., silent and live auctions and a seated dinner. The live auction will feature two works of art created by local children with muscle disease. The art includes a painting of the U.S. Flag created with handprints and a red, white and blue quilt of flags.

Tom O’Brien, president and general manager of television station KXAS (NBC 5), will emcee the entire event with help from former Southlake mayor Rick Stacy.

Local celebrity waiters include former Texas Ranger relief pitcher John Wetteland, Prestige Ford owner Jerry Reynolds, Congressman Jeb Hensarling and numerous Dallas broadcast personalities.

William G. Rickett, former chairman and CEO of Valley Dynamo LP, and his wife Marsha are the honorary chairpersons of the event.

Ticket prices for the celebrity waiters’ dinner range from $1,000-$5,000 sponsor tables, to individual tickets at $125.

Dr. Eric P. Hoffman, a research scientist whose work led to the identification of the gene defect in Duchenne dystrophy, is the major recipient of funds from the event. He is currently director of the Research Center for Genetic Medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Another recipient is Dr. Susan Iannaccone, director of neuromuscular disease and neurorehabilitation at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

For more information on the event, contact Anita Stevenson with MDA at (972)480-0070.