The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

The telethon has always meant the end of summer, school starts the next week.

I have been watching this since I was just a kid. One year, I was actually motivated to roam my neighborhood with my little sister and a coffee can with a slot cut out of the top. "Could you help Jerry's Kids?" was what we asked at each door.

I grew up watching the "tote board" numbers increasing, amazed at the dollar amounts. I watched year in and year out. As a young mom, I sometimes watched the whole telethon, feeding children, folding laundry, and sniffling throughout the night and day. My youngest son was born the weekend of the telethon.

To this day, I always take a bit of time to watch some of the telethon. I always end up with tears in my eyes at some point in my watching. And most importantly, I always remember that no matter how miserable I feel, no matter how disadvantaged I feel, I have so much more than some.

It makes me sad though, that for all the money that comes in, and all the research that happens, there is no answer, still. I learned one of the base philosophies that guide my non profit work, from the telethon....the importance of the relationship between monies raised and direct program services vs administrative services.