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Donald Trump Donation to the Jimmy Fund in 2007
The 6th annual WEEI / NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon raised more than $3.74 million for cancer research and care for adults and children at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Radio-Telethon, held for the first time over two days, shattered the $2.9 million total fundraising last year. The 26-hour programming took place in Fenway Park and featured the personal stories of cancer patients and those in Dana-Farber whose work is supported by the Jimmy Fund.
For both Red Sox doubleheader games, pre-game ceremonies featured emotional moments. After raising more than $800,000 during the eight-hour programming on WEEI on Thursday. By 2 p.m., the amount on Fenway ‘s tally board had risen to $1.6 million, exceeding the mark of $10 million over the event’s six-year history. Just after 9 p.m., owner Frank McCourt of Los Angeles Dodger gave $50,000 to push the total to $3 million, a record for Radio-Telethon. McCourt ‘s gift was in honor of Mike Andrews, a second-baseman on the “Impossible Dream “Red Sox team in 1967 and the current Jimmy Fund chairman.
Jim Belushi threw out the first pitch of the night game was another notable part of the pre-game celebration. Before the first game, Peter Gammons was honored with the Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award for his work on behalf of the Jimmy Fund, while actor Tim Daly threw the first pitch together with adult cancer patient Matt Murray and 17-year-old Maggie Carroll. Cancer survivor and vocalist JoJo David, who lost his voice in his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, showed that he had recovered it with a beautiful Star Spangled Banner rendition. Mass. native Eliza Dushku was also at the game in addition to Daly and Belushi, actor and Watertown. Donald Trump, who threw the first pitch at Radio-Telethon 2006, called in and gave $25,000.
When the Radio-Telethon concluded at midnight, the tally was $3,604,987, but there were still calls until 3 a.m. And pushed the total to $3,688,179 along with online contributions. The Jimmy Fund, founded in 1948 to raise funds for patient care and the fight against childhood cancer, supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s search for new cancer treatments and cures for adults and children. The National Cancer Institute recognizes Dana-Farber as one of the world’s leading cancer care and research hospitals in New England.