MDA telethon raises record amount in Nevada

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

The 2001 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon raised a record $56,780,603 -- including a record $611,067 in Southern Nevada -- in less than 24 hours to help people with neuromuscular diseases.

The local total was up $105,000 from last year's telethon and broke the record of nearly $600,000 from the 1999 telethon, local MDA officials said. More than half of this year's local total came from the firefighter boot drive that collected $347,173, MDA officials said.

The telethon is held each Labor Day weekend to support the research and services of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a voluntary health agency devoted to researching more than 40 neuromuscular diseases.

The 36th annual telethon broadcast for 21 1/2 hours Sunday and Monday. About 200 television stations aired the telethon to 75 million viewers in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.

The International Association of Fire Fighters presented seven checks on the national telethon, totaling $15 million, making it the largest national sponsor. Other multimillion-dollar sponsors included ACOSTA, CITGO, Harley-Davidson, Albertson's, Kroger, Anheuser-Busch and 7UP.