In June of 1955, Comedian and Actor Jerry Lewis held the very first Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon from Carnegie Hall in New York City. The 16˝ hour show, which was broadcast on Dumont station WABD – raised $600,000 for MDA. On Labor Day in 1966, from a lone television studio in New York City – Jerry Lewis held the first MDA Labor Day Telethon, which was the first televised fund-raising event of its kind to raise more than one million dollars in pledges. Since that day in 1955, Jerry Lewis and his MDA Telethons have raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the more than one million people effected by neuromuscular diseases.

I have watched the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon all my life and each time I watch it – I am amazed at the amount of effort that Jerry and his team put into the Telethon. From Jerry, who stays up over twenty hours to host the telethon, to the hundreds of staff members that make sure that the Telethon runs without a glitch – to the thousands of companies and millions of Americans that donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the research that will hopefully find a cure and allow those afflicted with the more than forty different neuromuscular diseases to live a more independent life.

While I do not have a family member who is stricken with a neuromuscular disease, I did have the honor of meeting Josh and John Shatesky, two brothers who both suffer from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy. I met them on June 8, 1997 when The Brooklyn Baron, which was the newspaper I ran at the time, held a Bowl-A-Thon to raise money for “Jerry’s Kids.” The event, which had many local sponsors and raised five thousand dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, had, as its main attraction, wrestlers that I worked with on Hole In The Wall, which was the show that Ring Fever spun-off of. In addition to bringing the kids some goodies, they brought with them their personalities, their wrestling belts – and their hearts.

At Gil Hodges Lanes on Strickland Avenue in Brooklyn, Duke “The Pitbull” Snyder, Bad Billy Walker and Julio of the tag team, “La Rasa” came down to raise money for MDA, and give Josh and John, who are die-hard wrestling fans, the opportunity to meet some of their favorite superstars.

When I met Josh and John, I interviewed them for both The Brooklyn Baron and Hole In The Wall. Before we started, I gave them each a WWF hat and T-Shirt, which they immediately put on. As the interview went on, I asked them about their love for wrestling and what they wanted more than anything else. Josh, who was 9˝, answered by saying that he hopes that one day, they would find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy – so he could get out of his wheelchair and walk down the aisle with his favorite wrestler – “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.

After hearing that story, which instantly moved me to tears, I remembered that in my closet at home, I had a life-size cut-out of Shawn Michaels that was given to me by the WWF after a recent visit to their company headquarters, Titan Towers. Knowing that Josh was such a big fan of Shawn Michaels that he carried his Shawn Michaels doll to the bowling alley with him – and knowing that I would never keep the cut-out for myself and eventually give it to a wrestling fan – I thought that no one would be more deserving of the gift than Josh – and I instantly ran home to get it for him.

When I got back to the bowling alley from my house with the Shawn Michaels cut-out, I told Josh that I had a surprise for him – and then proudly presented him with the life-size cardboard replica of his wrestling hero.

When he saw it, he just opened his mouth and didn’t say a word, he then looked at his parents with the happiest look I have ever seen on the face of a child – and then thanked me profusely for the gift. I have given wrestling memorabilia to countless fans over the years and no other time did I feel as warm and gratified in doing so. And to this day, I have never forgotten that moment – or the look on Josh’s face.

That Labor Day, which was a few months after I met Josh and John at the bowling alley, I turned on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. As I watched it on my local station, WWOR Channel 9 – I saw Josh get interviewed on the Telethon – wearing the WWF hat and T-shirt that I gave him. I can remember a few segments of past Telethons that have moved me to tears – but that one will always take the cake.

This year, I watched the Telethon online, which was a first for me. As usual, I saw company after company and American after American donate to Jerry and his “kids.” Of all the money donated this year and every year, seventy-six cents of every dollar goes toward funding research for a cure, providing care and supplies for those in need, sending children afflicted with neuromuscular diseases to camps that give them a chance to experience the outdoors – and provides hope to every person who has to deal with these debilitating diseases on a daily basis – instead of just once a year when the Telethon comes on.

Although the 39th Annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon is over and the total amount raised was $56,780,603 – exceeding their projected goal by two million dollars – it is never to late to contribute. If you would like to give a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, you can do so by calling 1-800-FIGHT-MD, by sending a donation by mail to: Muscular Dystrophy Association, P.O. Box “Jerry”, Phoenix, Arizona 85062-1111 – or online at www.mdausa.org.

God Bless each and every person that is fighting a neuromuscular disease. God Bless the family members and the doctors for making each fight a little easier. God Bless Jerry Lewis for his almost four decades of selfless determination – and God Bless Josh and John Shatesky – I hope they are doing well...

…and hope to God that they will soon get their wish of walking Shawn Michaels down the aisle.

Thanks to my dear friend, Deborah Dubois of newAbilities Systems, Inc. for helping to write this column.