News Media Home | Hopkins Medicine Home
February 1, 1994
Media Contact:Debbie Bangledorf
Phone: (410) 223-1731
E-mail:
DBangledorf@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
WWMX (MIX 106.5) morning radio host Mike McCarthy and the staff of are
finalizing plans for the fifth annual 106-hour radiothon to benefit the Johns
Hopkins Children's Center. McCarthy will be on the air from 5:30 a.m. on
Wednesday, June 1 until 4 p.m., Sunday, June 5. The end of the radiothon
coincides with the -TV Children's Miracle Network Telethon on NewsChannel
2.
The Telethon airs live from the studios of NewsChannel 2 and via satellite
from Disneyland from 9 p.m., June 4 to 6 p.m., June 5. Anchors Mary Beth
Marsden and Stan Stovall host the event with help from the WMAR NewsChannel 2
news team.
The radiothon, which was initiated by McCarthy in 1989, has raised more
than $700,000 for the Children's Center through Phone:d-in pledges by
listeners. During the 106 hours, McCarthy will play his usual musical mix, but
also interview Children's Center staff, patients and parents. More than 100
volunteers answer Phone:s and keep the momentum going.
This year, the radiothon will have its first patient ambassador. Bryce
Riley, 14, of Baltimore was diagnosed at age 8 with a rare muscle and tissue
disease called dermatomyositis and is seen by a multidisciplinary team of
specialists at the Children's Center. Bryce will participate in many of the
106 hours of air time put in by McCarthy.
"Bryce has been a good buddy to me during past radiothons," McCarthy says.
"He's helped keep me awake when things started getting blurry. He's a real
inspiration."
Frank Oski, M.D., Children's Center director, says, "We are grateful to
Mike McCarthy and the entire staff of MIX 106.5 for helping us support existing
programs and to begin new projects for children in Baltimore and our
surrounding neighborhoods."
Under the leadership of station manager Ardie Gregory, the station donates
airtime for the radiothon. Last year, the event raised $275,000 for the
Children's Center. This year, Gregory says she hopes to top $300,000.
The Johns Hopkins Children's Center is the children's hospital of The Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions. Maryland's only comprehensive acute care
hospital for children, the center, with its 193-beds and more than 40 division
and services, treats 7,000 inpatients and more than 90,000 outpatients
annually.