Jerry Lewis telethons played ‘pivotal role,’ says Muscular Dystrophy Canada
TORONTO — The passionate advocacy work of Jerry Lewis has left an indelible mark in Canada, says the head of Muscular Dystrophy Canada.
CEO Barbara Stead-Coyle credits much of today’s research breakthroughs to the tireless fundraising efforts of the comic and telethon giant, who died Sunday.
“It is part of our DNA, it is part of our history and I hope that someday we can make him proud by saying that the work is done, we found the cures,” Stead-Coyle said Monday.
Lewis’s star-packed telethons ran every Labour Day weekend from 1966 to 2010, a family viewing tradition for Stead-Coyle and many others who caught a homegrown feed that included local content and pleas for funds that would support Canadian families.