$58.3 MILLION!
JERRY LEWIS TELETHON SETS RECORD
HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 2, 2002 - As the confetti finally settled at CBS Television City in Hollywood, the figure on the tote board told the whole story - the 2002 Jerry Lewis Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association was an unqualified success.
Best-selling poet and MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Mattie Stepanek, as well as celebrities from all parts of the world of entertainment, joined Telethon star Jerry Lewis and helped achieve a record $58,276,118 in pledges and contributions to benefit people with neuromuscular diseases.
MDA's signature event, the Labor Day Telethon has been held for 37 years to support the Association's research and services. Originating live from CBS Television City in Hollywood, the Telethon was broadcast across the country by some 200 television stations in MDA's "Love Network."
Lewis, MDA's national chairman, was gratified to have exceeded his goal of raising one dollar more than last year's $56.8 million.
"It's amazing - every year I ask for more, and every year the great American public rises to meet the challenge," he said shortly after completing the show.
"Their generosity and compassion translate directly to another year of hope for 'my kids.' That's America's real gift to people with neuromuscular diseases - the knowledge that they're not alone in the fight, that their friends and neighbors are behind us in the drive to beat these devastating diseases."
Lewis, still recovering from pulmonary fibrosis, was assisted through the hours by Telethon anchor Ed McMahon, along with national co-hosts Wayne Brady, Jann Carl, Charo, Norm Crosby, Cynthia Garrett, Andy Williams and Bob Zany.
"I asked for their talent and their energy, and they brought it all out on that stage for me and 'my kids,'" Lewis said. "This was the most successful show we've ever done, and I couldn't have done any of this without them."
The Telethon is broadcast annually to tens of millions of viewers in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Each "Love Network" station supplemented the national broadcast with local segments highlighting MDA activities in their respective communities.
International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger, representing fire fighters and paramedics across the United States and Canada, appeared in the opening hour of the show in a tribute to the fire fighters who lost their lives on Sept. 11, noting that several of them had been active MDA volunteers.
IAFF representatives presented Lewis with checks totaling $17 million in memory of the fallen fire fighters. The union has been a partner with MDA for 49 years, and is MDA's largest national sponsor.
Other national sponsors making multimillion dollar contributions to MDA were ACOSTA, CITGO, Harley-Davidson, Albertson's, Kroger, Anheuser-Busch and Seven Up.
In addition to top-flight entertainment, the broadcast featured profiles of families living with progressive muscle-wasting diseases, as well as reports on the status of MDA-funded research into gene therapy, stem cells and other potential treatment avenues to fight these diseases.
The Telethon also drew international viewers to its live Webcast at www.mda.org through streaming media provided by RealNetworks.
MDA is a 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.
