AREA MDA TELETHON PLEDGES HELP IN FIGHT

Since 1966 Jerry Lewis and a host of celebrities and volunteers have devoted the Labor Day weekend to raising money to find a cure for neuromuscular diseases.

The people who help know it isn't just a once a year thing, said Brenda Green, regional coordinating secretary for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"As soon as one telethon is over, we start getting donations for next year," she said from Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, the site of this year's local telethon broadcast that started early Sunday morning.

"Things were a little slow this morning but have picked up as the day went on," said Green.

Telephones were manned by volunteers who displayed signs urging friends to call.

Chris Gray, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University, was still smiling after her 11 hours of volunteer work.

"I volunteered as a community service for my sorority," she said. "I plan on staying here until they tell me to go home."

That kind of enthusiasm is what makes the Muscular Dystrophy Association volunteers so special.

Eleven-year-old Amy White of Jackson spent part of Sunday and Monday canvassing her neighborhood and Jackson businesses. Her efforts paid off in the form of $342.25, which she donated to "Jerry's Kids."

"I went around my neighborhood and to the Jackson Tire Center where my dad works and got the guys there," she said.

She also made a trip to McDonald's where her aunt is employed.

So why does an 11-year-old give up a weekend to do this?

"My mom has MD," said White. "I like helping her a lot."

White's mother also has multiple sclerosis, so she walked in the multiple sclerosis walk, too.

"My mom thinks I should go to work in some kind of rehab place when I get older," she said. White just thinks it's fun to help people in wheelchairs and those with diseases.

The satisfaction from helping others has kept Kim Lamp of Carmi, Ill., involved with Muscular Dystrophy Association for almost 20 years. The Southeast senior has done everything from roadblocks to manning the phones.

"I've been working with MDA since I could walk," she said. Lamp's entire family has been active supporters of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, partly due to a cousin with Duchennes.

"He just graduated from college with a 4.0," Lamp proudly announced. Although his body is deteriorating, her cousin keeps on studying. "He lives for education," she said.

Lamp recruited Ellen Talley, a Southeast student from Chicago, to help at the telethon. The pair were also representing Alpha Phi Omega, a coed service fraternity at the university.

Lowe's not only provided the site for the 1999 telethon but also held a fund raiser of its own.

A playhouse and deck were built. Chances were sold with all proceeds being donated.

"We raised about $500," said Tyler Russom, Cape Girardeau Lowe's co-manager.

"We like getting involved in charitable organizations," he said. "This was a way for us to lend a helping hand to the community."

The last reported totals for the Cape Girardeau area reached $341,124, up from the $324,915 reported for 1998.

The national tote board recorded $53,116,417, up from last year's $51.57 million.