The Muscular Dystrophy Association will relaunch its signature event – the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon – with Kevin Hart joining as host, the MDA announce today.
Renamed the MDA Kevin Hart Kids Telethon – and with a significantly shorter running time than the all-night endurance tests that were a Labor Day tradition from the 1960s to 2010, the two-hour streaming event will air globally on Saturday October 24 at 8 pm ET, with streaming partners to be announced.
The telethon will raise funds for the MDA and Hart’s Help From the Hart Charity. The host will be joined by celebrity guests including Jack Black, Usain Bolt, Josh Gad, Michael B. Jordan, Eva Longoria, Jillian Mercado, among others.
“This is an incredible opportunity to bring the work of Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association forward,” Hart said. “I’m honored to collaborate with MDA and my organization, to educate and entertain the public about the need to support people with disabilities and disadvantages, because we are all in this together. I can’t wait to have an incredible night for two critically important causes that are in urgent need of funding and hope.”
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Additional live content will include seven weeks of live gaming and esports events leading up to and simultaneously with the telethon. MDA is an active member of the gaming community on a year-round weekly basis through the MDA Let’s Play gaming platform, which will host the gaming events starting September 12 and taking place on Twitch every Saturday until the final marathon stream called MDA Let’s Play For A Cure on October 24. Each week will feature top gaming influencers and showcase the most popular game titles including Fortnite, Fall Guys and Minecraft.
Donations to Help From the Hart support community-based organizations that address the educational, health and social needs of underserved communities, in addition to helping youth obtain higher learning through education scholarships and vocational training.
“For decades Jerry Lewis brought the world together through the historic Labor Day telethon, establishing an incredible foundation of help and hope for MDA and the families we serve,” said MDA President and CEO Lynn O’Connor Vos. “The telethon was instrumental in raising awareness and donations that today have been directly linked to the development of life-changing therapies for muscular dystrophy, ALS and related neuromuscular diseases. Kevin Hart and the Help From the Hart organization are the perfect match for MDA to bring the magic and power of the telethon into a new era of giving, and to bring the remarkable stories of strength of MDA families into the hearts and homes of people across the country.”
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