By Patrick Baron
NORMAL – The 40th annual St. Jude telethon Saturday raised $10.1 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its Midwest affiliate in Peoria.
That’s a new high mark, topping last year’s total by three percent.
Bloomington-Normal runners brought in $250,000, while runners who made the trek from Memphis raised $1 million.
Co-coordinator for the Bloomington to Peoria run Dennis Cler explained the fundraising might not end at the finish line.
“Really there’s still money coming in – I had a number of our runners tell me ‘hey, I know I’ve got two or three more checks coming in’, people who told me they’re going to send me something… so money is still coming in,” said Cler. “It very well may turn out that, when all is said and done, we do end up with more this year than last year.”
Cler also said the most memorable parts of the day were hearing stories from families of St. Jude and seeing the faces of the children the runners were there to support. This year marked the 32nd consecutive year Bloomington-Normal has participated in the run.
The telethon on WEEK-TV raised $9.8 million in Central and Southern Illinois last year, including $2.75 from McLean County.
The money pays for treatment and care for children who are battling cancer and for cancer research.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].
