{"id":8736,"date":"2026-04-13T09:59:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=8736"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:27:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:27:06","slug":"telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-4\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"Telethon raises $1M for children\u2019s hospital, charities\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Telethon
Patricia Moran and Scott Dobe take donation calls during the Variety Kids Telethon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"TelethonApril 16, 2026 —<\/em> The 64th Annual <\/span>Variety Kids Telethon<\/span><\/a> on March 21 and 22 raised $1,014,326 to support Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital of Buffalo, and other children\u2019s charities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PEF members Scott Dobe and Patricia Moran volunteered at the phone banks along with other representatives of labor in western New York.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy three children were born at this hospital and two of them spent time as preemies in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit),\u201d Dobe said. \u201cThis hospital has always been special to my family.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The telethon features a \u201ccelebrity child\u201d each year, many of whom are eligible for services through New York state.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a physical therapist for the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), I have become close to many of the former celebrity children who are eligible to receive services through OPWDD,\u201d Dobe said. \u201cEach year, many of these former celebrities return to the telethon which provides a place to catch up with each other.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dobe and Moran see participating in the telethon not only as a way to support the children\u2019s hospital, but also to give back to the community that supported efforts to save Western New York Children\u2019s Psychiatric Center. PEF worked with families, area legislators, civic leaders and many others for five years to derail then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s plan to close the facility and move the services to Buffalo Psychiatric Center.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe local Western New York Area Labor Federation and Buffalo Central Labor Council are big supporters of the telethon and were big supporters of our efforts to save WNYCPC,\u201d Moran said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to spend a Sunday afternoon with our labor friends to help answer phones at the telethon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Telethon\u201cA small sacrifice of time goes a long way to helping the community in so many ways,\u201d they both said. \u201cWe build bridges with our union family, with the agency at large, and support the missions of our \u2018O-agencies\u2019 all at once.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Variety Kids Telethon is the nation\u2019s longest-running, locally produced telethon. In 1962, Dr. Robert Warner asked Variety to help him fulfill his dream of a rehabilitation center for children with special needs. The first telethon raised more than $80,000, and the Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center for Children with Special Needs became a reality at Women and Children\u2019s Hospital of Buffalo.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 16, 2026 — The 64th Annual Variety Kids Telethon<\/a> on March 21 and 22 raised $1,014,326 to support Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital of Buffalo, and other children\u2019s charities.\u00a0 PEF…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-8736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-44-no-4"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTelethon raises $1M for children\u2019s hospital, charities\u00a0 - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-4\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Telethon raises $1M for children\u2019s hospital, charities\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 16, 2026 — The 64th Annual Variety Kids Telethon on March 21 and 22 raised $1,014,326 to support Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital of Buffalo, and other children\u2019s charities.\u00a0 PEF...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-4\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-13T13:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-13T14:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Telethon-Header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"headline\":\"Telethon raises $1M for children\u2019s hospital, charities\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-13T13:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-13T14:27:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":410,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Telethon-Header.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-4\\\/telethon-raises-1m-for-childrens-hospital-charities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Telethon raises $1M for children\u2019s hospital, charities\u00a0 - 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