CMN Telethon raises money for local children

The national not-for-profit organization, with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, was founded in 1983; it now includes 170 chapters in the United States and Canada. Each chapter must be sponsored by a medical facility, said Susan Scanlon, director of Children’s Miracle Network of CoxHealth.

CoxHealth began its sponsorship in 1986. There was only one employee and no actual budget.

Today, Scanlon heads a team of four development directors. The budget for the 2004-2005 fiscal year was $400,863, paid entirely by CoxHealth. Scanlon said that funding is unique, and not only because other CMN hospitals might only pay a portion of chapter operating expenses.

“Most of my sister charities, they have to raise their own salaries,” Scanlon said, estimating that up to 30 percent of the money most charities raise pays overhead expenses. “We’re lucky that they give us the total enchilada. Because what that means then is, every penny we raise ... goes to help local children with medical needs.”

To raise money for the children it helps, CMN turned to KY3.

Steve Woodall, KY3’s producer for the CMN telethons, has been involved in all 20 telethons. Woodall said the station immediately embraced the charity.

On May 30–June 1, 1986, Children’s Miracle Network of CoxHealth and KY3 television aired the first telethon. It raised $108,000.

Almost a dozen on-air personalities participate in the yearly event. Another 25 to 30 man-hours are spent behind the scenes, Woodall said. And the work doesn’t stop when that year’s telethon wraps up.

“We shoot and edit year-round,” Woodall said, estimating the total time spent on the telethon easily exceeds 100 hours annually.

The telethon is always held on the first weekend after Memorial Day. Telethon No. 20 was held June 4–5 and raised $1,600,101.

KY3 general manager Mike Scott said that the station supports the organization today for the same reasons it did in 1986.

“If you look at their contribution to the community and what they do for the kids, it’s just as valid today as it was then. The needs are as great, if not greater, and we’re just pleased that it’s one of the ways we can give back to the community,” Scott said.

While the amount of funds raised has grown – the telethon surpassed $1 million for the first time in 1998 – so has the need for more funding.

“The bigger the charity becomes, the more it costs,” Scanlon said – and she’s counting. “I want donors to know that I can show you exactly where your money is going – every penny of it.”

CMN’s services reach more than 100,000 children a year in a 32-county area.

Six-year old Kyle Bruton, who was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal disorder, and his family first became involved with the Children’s Miracle Network three years ago. While the family does have insurance, there is a great deal that isn’t paid for, and CMN steps in to help.

“It’s made a huge difference in our lives because we’re able to do things, provide for Kyle, through CMN, that he may have had to do without because of other expenses we would have had to pay for,” said Angela Bruton, Kyle Bruton’s mother.

CMN has helped to provide specialized leg braces and tennis shoes; helped with travel expenses when Kyle needed to visit specialists in Columbia and St. Louis; and assisted with occupational, physical, and speech therapies, Bruton said.

“It’s just … giving us a break, when sometimes you don’t feel like life is giving you a break at all,” Bruton said.

Most recently, Kyle was chosen to represent the children involved in every CMN chapter in the state as the CMN Missouri Champion. In March, the family traveled with other CMN Champions and their families to Washington, D.C., where they met with first lady Laura Bush, visited with Sen. Kit Bond, attended a Capitol Hill event with senators and representatives from around the country and did some sightseeing. After Washington, D.C., the group took a chartered flight to Orlando, where the national telethon was taped. The family received two-day Disney Park-Hopper passes, attended a Lone Star concert and met with Marie Osmond, whose family originally founded CMN.

Without the telethon, experiences like the Brutons’ would not be possible.

“To me, the biggest thing that I would want people to know about Children’s Miracle Network is that truly it is all about kids,” Scanlon said.