Jerry does it again....

[jrjcd]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A12134-2003Sep1?language=printer :balloons: :icon_band


Jerry raises 60 + million dollars for his "kids" this year, which includes a 18.3 million dollar donation from the International Association of Firefighters....

whilst I am very happy about this(and i do give every year), it is almost impossible to watch him do this because he is so bloated from the steroids he has to take-i fear that we'll see Lewis in the obits anytime soon...

[music_beans]

The tap-dance at the start of the telethon was pretty good. You are right about Jerry though, as he stutters a lot.

[James_F]

Believe me, I do appreciate what he is doing, but this is the year 2003. How about update the act every 30 years?

[Jacob S]

I wonder who will take his place once he passes away. Would they still call it the Jerry Lewis Telethon in his name?

[jrjcd]

i suspect that it would no longer be televised...

[Uncle Peter]

How much does Jerry make on the Telethon anyways? With 60 Million raised, I'm sure he isn't 'volunteering' his time. Why not Telethons for Poor People? With that kind of money raised alot of people wouldn't be sleeping in cardboard boxes and eating out of garbage cans.

[pez2002]

I wonder who will take his place once he passes away. Would they still call it the Jerry Lewis Telethon in his name?



No why would you say something Like that

[RichW]

How much does Jerry make on the Telethon anyways? With 60 Million raised, I'm sure he isn't 'volunteering' his time. Why not Telethons for Poor People? With that kind of money raised alot of people wouldn't be sleeping in cardboard boxes and eating out of garbage cans.

First Jerry Lewis is an UNPAID volunteer for MDA. Papers file by MDA with the IRS have never indicated any money going to Jerry. The MDA, and the telethon in particular, has been criticized by disabilities rights groups for pandering by using the Poster Kids. I guess even when you do positive things, you have critics.

Why not other kinds of telethons? you ask. Good question, but the lack of thelthons for other causes does not invalidate what Mr. Lewis does. If you wnat a different telethon, why don't you start one yourself?

[Nick]

To paraphrase Mark Twain, 'Reports of Jerry Lewis' death are greatly exaggerated', as is he.

[Jacob S]

Why do I say something to the effect on keeping it Jerry's Telethon in his name after he dies? Because it has a name for itself, its like a foundation. Perhaps they could call it the Jerry Lewis Foundation Telethon after he dies or something to that affect. Either that or they would change the name of it but would not be as recognizable. Perhaps it would start a new generation for the effort when someone else has to run it or his family could run it.

[MikeW]

Remember the Crosby Pro/Am at Pebble Beach? I'd see it going on as the Jerry Lewis telethon for about 5 years beyond his passing, then becoming the AT&T MDA Telethon.

[Jacob S]

Interesting thought that a sponser would continue the marathon, but I had thought that Ed McMahan would take over as well since he has been the co-host of the show for a good while now.

[James_F]

Ed McMahan? Its going to be deal 1 year after Jerry dies. The first year people will tune it for to see all the starts tell us how great Jerry was and then the next year no one will care. Ed isn't too long for this world either.

[paulh]

Why not other kinds of telethons? you ask. Good question, but the lack of thelthons for other causes does not invalidate what Mr. Lewis does. If you wnat a different telethon, why don't you start one yourself?


I know we see other telethons, like a St. Jude telethon, but that may be more localized or regional. Of course there are the PBS fund raisers...

[Kevin G]

And not to start a flame war or anything, we do raise money for poor and homeless people - welfare, homeless shelters, pantry organizations, churches, etc.

[RichW]

Jerry get criticism from a few MD afflictees for "exploiting MD for his own recognition" as using Jerry's kids as poster kids for his telethon. But, even if there was a shread of truth to this allegation, one must use CRITICAL THINKING here and ask... "Are we not better off becuase of teh telethon and the money it raises?" To me the answer is obvious and the critics should examine their OWN motives for being so contrary to the telethon.

As I have mentioned several times (and my avatar shows), I work for an organization which provides medical assitance and corrective surgery to kids free of charge. While a vast majority of our patients and families are ecstatic over what we do, there is a small minority who criticize us, and even a couple of families have been so demanding of us. Yet we do not reject valid criticism. A few years ago we removed the word "Crippled" from our corporate name because that was viewed by some of our patients and families in a very negative way. When we researched these claims, we indeed found that the word had becaome a kind of a slur in modern society. Thus we changed all our signs, logos, stationery, etc.

That still has not satisified some people who think we use kids to further our reputation. But again, would the world be better or worse without us.

[MikeI]

I poke my head into this forum for the 1st time in months and come across this sad thread. Obivously people here haven't experienced MD or else these knucklehead comments wouldn't be written. Who cares what the name is going to be or who's hosting? It will probably be someone like Jann Carl or a comedian like the person that hosted in the wee morning hours last weekend. Jerry hosted for 8 hours last weekend. 1st 4 until 10:30 and then 10:45 on Sunday to the conclusion. 2nd straight year with these hours. Ed was on for most of the telecast if not all as I did get some sleep for a few hours. This thread should be closed for lack of common sense which is option # 5 in the moderators handbook. With all the effort people have put into this research and time , then it will surely go on for years after Jerry's death, but maybe not to the same scale that it is today, but it will most likely continue.