Call For The Cure Raises $164,784

Call for the Cure, CBS 3's five-hour on-air fundraiser for the upcoming Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure (Mother's Day, May 10th), raised $164,784 for breast cancer research, education and outreach tonight during its live broadcast from the station's High Definition Broadcast Center in the Spring Garden section of the City.


CBS 3 teamed up with sponsors Wawa, The Rosenfeld Center at Abington Memorial Hospital and Carlino's Specialty Foods and Catering to present the event. Contributions came from viewers by phone, online at CBS3.COM and from local businesses including IBEW Local Union 98, AstraZeneca, Parente Randolph Accountants & Consultants and Axis Construction. Also contributing were local businesses and schools of Collingswood, New Jersey, The Jane Lopoten School of Dance of Landsdale and First Impressions Nursery School of Philadelphia.


The station made time available in newscasts, in commercial break time and within some regularly-scheduled programming during those five hours. CBS 3's Susan Barnett, Pat Ciarrocchi, Carol Erickson, Liz Keptner, Kathy Orr, Maria LaRosa and Mary Stoker Smith spearheaded the effort to raise funds for the Race, the largest breast cancer fundraiser of its kind in the Philadelphia area. Natasha Brown, anchor of The CW Philly's Wake Up News, joined in along with CBS 3 Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl. CBS 3's Chris May, Dave Huddleston, Doug Kammerer, Beasley Reece, Bob Kelly, Jim Donovan, Ukee Washington and Nicole Brewer.


Other local personalities taking part in the fundraising effort included Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, Ross Brittain and Valerie Knight of 98.1 WOGL's Breakfast Club, 94 WYSP's Danny Bonaduce, Spike, Metro, Gordon and Shila and Sportsradio 610 WIP's Steve Trevelese as well as local radio personality Jerry Blavat.


"We could not have asked for a more dedicated turnout in terms of the CBS 3 team as well as everyone in the community who called in a pledge or submitted a pledge online," said Elaine I. Grobman, Executive Director of the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate. "Especially in these financial times -- when the number of women limited insurance or no insurance is growing -- every dollar is crucial to empowering all people against breast cancer."


CBS 3 (KYW-TV) is part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.