ONEONTA _ Volunteers at the Oneonta MDA Telethon were in awe Monday at a record-breaking haul.
The local telethon, held in conjunction with the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon, raised $113,543, beating the previous record of $99,755 set two years ago.
"It was an awesome night," co-coordinator Becky Ashe said.
The local telethon was broadcast from WISF TV-15 studios at 3200 Chestnut St. in Oneonta
The tally for this year was nearly $30,000 more than the $84,827 raised in 2009.
Longtime organizer Chuck Smith said Ashe deserves much of the credit for this year's success.
But Ashe was quick to defer back to Smith, the longtime coordinator of the 35-year-old event.
"He totally laid the foundation," Ashe said.
She said one change this year was that the "lock-ups" were held in three locations: Cooperstown, Norwich and Oneonta. The lock-ups typically involve local business leaders getting "arrested" then calling people to "bail" them out. No actual police arrests take place.
Together, lock-ups at the three locations raised $70,000, she said.
Foot traffic was also high at the event held at 3200 Chestnut St.
"Despite the economy, people are really reaching into their hearts and into their pockets," Ashe said.
Fifteen volunteers from the Oneonta Lowe's were among the scores of local people helping with the telethon. In matching red shirts, the Lowe's employees, many of whom were accompanied by their children, took the stage in shifts to answer phone calls from donors.
"We get to help out a worthy cause," Jennifer Oates of Otego said after finishing a shift.
Oates said she was "a little nervous."
"This is the first time I've been on television," she said.
Oates and several others sat in the audience to enjoy the show.
"I think it's a good cause because the money goes to help people and it also gets the community involved," she said.
The involvement of others at the telethon was measured in decades.
"It's a family affair," Madolyn Palmer said. "It gets in your blood."
She has children and grandchildren volunteering.
Nationally, the MDA Telethon raised $58.9 million.
This was down from $60.5 million last year and the record $65 million raised in 2008.
The national telethon is in its 45th year. The funds collected go toward research and treatment of muscular dystrophy and related diseases.
Local News
Related Photos
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From left, Lisa Wingate, and Florence Shinol, record pledges while co-hosts Mark Jeffers, Janet Hurley-Quackenbush, and Gary Wickham, joke around during The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon local broadcast held Monday, September 06, 2010 in the WISF TV-15 studios at 3200 Chestnut Street in Oneonta. Benjamin Patton
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Telethon breaks local record
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