Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Labor Day Telethon

I missed the telethon this weekend. The first time in forever! The telethon for MDA on Labor Day weekend has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. This year the MDA and Jerry Lewis broke up for reasons I don't know and don't need to know. When I was looking at the Sunday paper I remembered it because the cover of The Parade magazine wasn't about the telethon and I commented. I also remembered reading somewhere that it was going to be shortened to only 6 hours I think. But I missed it completely. I would have called and pledged. I always have even in lean years, I gave $10, something. As a kid my brother and I were each allowed to call and pledge $5 that our parents gave us and whatever we wanted to add from our allowance. I was always broke so sometimes I remember only being able to add a dollar or two. It was a big deal to drop change into the boot of a fireman collecting change at some intersection. One year my brother and I sat outside a local grocery chain, coffee cans decorated a la MDA and then went to the local fish bowl collection spot to be on TV when we dumped our change in. I don't remember how much it was but it was a big deal. I remember always watching the last hour of the telethon, to see how much the final tally was. I would write the amount in my diary and each year compare the grand total to the year before. Each year it was more than the last.
The telethon was a big deal, a major tradition for Labor Day weekend. I never knew that we would call on MDAs services for my grandmother years later when she was diagnosed with ALS.
I guess I will have to make my donation on my own without the telethon to prompt me this year. Its sad because I imagine they will loose quite a bit of fund raising dollars with all the changes.