Telethon Shorts
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Description: The Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon was an annual event held over Labor Day Weekend in the United States to raise money for the fight to cure childhood muscular dystrophy. The show was hosted by comedian, actor, singer, and filmmaker Jerry Lewis from its 1966 inception until 2010, and raised $2.45 billion for from its inception during his tenure. Lewis became so tightly associated with the cause, that the children he helped became known as 'Jerry's Kids.' The first telethon was held the weekend of September 4th and 5th, 1966, and proved the doubters wrong as the event was so successful that Lewis had to climb a ladder and paint a seventh digit, a '1,' on the six-digit tote board when the final total reached $1,002,114.
