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| - Many of us who grew up in the U.S. in the mid-20th century came to associate a familiar pattern of television events with major holidays. Eastertime always brought a network airing of the classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz, the extended Thanksgiving weekend kicked off with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and continued with a bevy of pro football games, the Christmas season was marked by a variety of seasonal animated specials (e.g., Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas), and New Year's Day started off the calendar with a day-long block of college football bowl games.
From a kid's perspective, at least, Labor Day wasn't an important holiday in our part of the country — it didn't provide us with an additional day off (falling as it did during the tail end of summer vacation) and it wasn't accompanied by traditions that brought us neat stuff like fireworks, candy, or presents; it served mainly as a unwanted reminder that summer break was nearly up and a new school year was about to begin. Nonetheless, Labor Day did have its own distinctive TV moment: the annual Jerry Lewis-hosted MDA Labor Day Telethon.
Watching a bunch of celebrities we'd never heard of earnestly trying to solicit donations to cure a disease unfamiliar to us wasn't exactly compelling children's fare, but in those
From an adult perspective, though, comedian Jerry Lewis is recognized for having spent several decades as a tireless champion who raised
Inevitably, though, there are always some cynics who believe that nobody could spend so much time raising so much money for altruistic reasons, and the whole charade must have been a front for personal gain:
My co-worker was telling me that her mother refuses to give to the Jerry Lewis Telethons because she claims that he only has to donate 10% of what he collects and gets to keep the rest.
There was no truth to this view, however: everyone associated with the MDA
As the MDA's Telethon FAQ noted:
Jerry Lewis receives no pay for his tireless year-round work for MDA. He is MDA's "number-one volunteer" and star of the Telethon.
Other celebrities serve as Telethon co-hosts and performers. None of the celebrities on the Telethon receive any pay for their efforts.
Although many casual Telethon viewers may not be aware of it, the Muscular Dystrophy Association does much more than just sponsor medical research to develop a cure for muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases. Among their many activities and programs, the MDA:
- Sends thousands of children with neuromuscular diseases to MDA summer camps each year, at no cost to their families.
- Facilitates or operates hundreds of MDA support groups and hospital-affiliated clinics.
- Helps purchase and repair equipment (such as wheelchairs and leg braces) and provides free flu vaccines for those affected by neuromuscular diseases.
Like most long-running, well-known events, the MDA Labor Day Telethon spawned its own subset of legends. Answers to two of the questions most commonly posed about the MDA Telethon are as follows:
- Nobody really knows why Jerry Lewis spent so much time and effort over the years to help those with neuromuscular diseases. Many people assumed he must have had a personal connection to someone afflicted with muscular dystrophy (or a similar disease) in his past, but if he did, he never spoke publicly of it. He said only that his involvement was what's important, not the reasons behind it.
- Not only did the MDA actually end up receiving all the money pledged during their annual Telethons, they generally took in considerably more than indicated by the final tally because many people and organizations sent in more funds than they originally pledged, and the MDA also received contributions from many donors who don't call in pledges but still contribute money to the cause.
By the time the MDA Telethon ended in 2009, a total of $60,481,231 in pledges had been received.
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