Where I Stand — Jerry Lewis: Telethon offers chance for life’s greatest thrill, giving

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.

Now there are people who really don't appreciate what I do for "my kids," and that's OK. It hurt at the beginning, but it got better as my passion got stronger. After all, there's no better gift you can give yourself than the gift of giving.

And it goes back a number of years -- 50 to be exact. I was 22 when I needed to create an association that did nothing more than concentrate on "my kids" -- the kids and adults who suffer from 40 neuromuscular diseases. In 1950, I began what I didn't realize would be a lifetime of care. I had to break down some really horrific barriers that, without passion and tenacity, could have forced me to go away. Well, I didn't go away -- they only made me more determined, and I took that determination and turned it into what today is the foremost nongovernmental fund-raising organization in the world. And so I feel blessed that the good Lord kept me strong and healthy all this time (with a few minor detours).

And before I knew it, here comes my September telethon when most everything else on the planet stops at 6 p.m. Pacific time on the Sunday before Labor Day.

One of the great joys of my life is when my 6-year-old healthy, magnificent daughter, collects money by selling chocolate-chip cookies to my crew, my staff -- anyone who'll listen to her. "Help Jerry's kids," she bellows -- basically shy -- but when it comes to helping Dad, she takes on the sounds and actions of a circus barker. (She will raise somewhere between $295 and $325 and then hand it to me on Labor Day -- my chest size blooms from 38 to 98).

For those of you reading this today, please understand that what we and MDA do is helping people because people help MDA.

It's quite simple -- bread on the water, of course, and why not?

This is a good and fruitful life, and those of us who can do, should do. Giving back is a wonderful and quite exquisite act that makes us feel marvelous.

I wish I had a way for you, the reader, to see some of these children and adults at our MDA-funded summer camps. My God, many of them look as if they're thrilled they were struck down just to be there. It's amazing how little it takes to make their hearts soar -- take a peek on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 6-7). Let me walk you through some wonderful magic that could make a cure appear.

You see, on Labor Day, I feel like a giant! My blood rushes through my veins and my mind gets sharper and my heart feels whole and my spirit soars because I am about to do my most satisfying gig -- walking out in front of anywhere between 70 million and 85 million people and asking them to help me help some terrific people who got a bad deal.

So ... when the weirdos and ungifted and uncharitable people make their feelings known, I look to those who get our love and concern and see in their eyes gratitude, appreciation and thanks! My God! How deep that runs -- and how small those others appear.

So I guess it comes down to something I wish I had written. It comes from a greeting card -- it says it all:

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove ... but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."

I rest my case.

Have a great life.