Jerry Lewis Telethon Sets $56.8 Million Record

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3, 2001 - Celebrities from television, Broadway, comedy, music and magic helped to raise a record $56,780,603 to benefit people with neuromuscular diseases during the 2001 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

The Telethon, held each Labor Day weekend to support the research and services programs of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, was broadcast for 21½ hours on Sept. 2-3. The star-studded event originated live from CBS Television City in Hollywood with pick-ups from Branson, Boston, Nashville, New York, Las Vegas and Chicago.

Jerry Lewis, MDA's national chairman and star of the Telethon, was gratified to have exceeded his goal of raising one dollar more than last year's total of $54.6 million.

"The extraordinary compassion of the great American public never ceases to amaze me, even after all these years," he said shortly after completing his 36th annual Labor Day Telethon. "Their message is unmistakable: They're telling us to keep the research going at full speed and beat these devastating diseases."

During the marathon event, Lewis relied heavily on the considerable talents of Telethon anchor Ed McMahon, along with national co-hosts Wayne Brady, Jann Carl, Norm Crosby, Cynthia Garrett, Casey Kasem and Bob Zany.

"I couldn't have done it without them," Lewis said. "Their hard work and commitment to 'my kids' really helped make this year's show one of the best ever."

The Telethon is broadcast annually by some 200 television stations to 75 million viewers in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.

International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger, representing fire fighters and paramedics across the United States and Canada, presented Lewis with seven checks totaling $15 million, making the IAFF MDA's largest national sponsor. Schaitberger, whose union has been a partner with MDA for 48 years, pledged to continue supporting the effort to find treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases "for as long as it takes."

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 entertainment, the broadcast featured profiles of families living with progressive muscle-wasting disorders, 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 was viewable in its entirety on the Internet 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.