Plum’s annual telethon for Make-A-Wish returning after reaching $1M goal in 2021
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After shooting for, reaching and exceeding a $1 million lifetime goal last year, Plum School District’s annual telethon for Make-A-Wish is going into its 22nd year without such a milestone in mind.
The telethon, started in 1999, was held annually until missing 2020 because of the pandemic. It returned in 2021, needing $42,000 to reach a total of $1 million.
Instead, just over $73,000 was raised, putting the 21-year total at about $1.032 million, said Rick Berrott, a TV production teacher and co-sponsor of the school’s National Honor Society which started the telethon.
While Berrott said it would be nice to raise $68,000 to take the collection to an even $1.1 million, that’s not the goal for this year’s event.
“Last year was weird. After covid, people were coming out of the woodwork. It was something to do and something to pull for,” he said. “I honestly don’t have any expectations except for the fact we’re going to donate a large sum of money to Make-A-Wish.”
This year’s telethon is scheduled to run from 6:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Dec. 22. A livestream will be available on the district’s website at pbsd.net. It will air later on Comcast’s Channel 23 in Plum and Verizon’s Channel 30 in the Pittsburgh area.
National Honor Society members oversee fundraising, and TV production students stage the telethon.
Among the guests expected are former Plum students Steve Fabian, a correspondent with “Inside Edition,” and Pat Muldowney, who works with Spotify in Los Angeles.
Senior Gregory Valotta will be a host of the telethon this year, Berrott said. He had been a Make-A-Wish recipient when he was close to 5 years old and went to Disney World with his family.
Valotta, now 18, said he was born with multiple health issues, including a hole in his heart, a missing right lung lobe, brain tissue extending into the spinal canal, and intestinal and spinal issues. He went to the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh to learn to eat so he could stop using a feeding tube.
The trip to Disney “was something we all needed since those years were spent in and out of the hospital and with numerous doctors,” he said.
Valotta and his family appeared on the telethon in 2009
“Here we are, 13 years later, and he’s a telethon host,” Berrott said.
Fundraisers have been taking place at the district’s schools since October. Proceeds from a movie night, featuring 2018’s “The Grinch” from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the high school gymnasium Dec. 17, will go toward the cause. A $10 donation will include bottomless popcorn and hot cocoa, Berrott said.
The telethon’s proceeds go to the Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia chapter of Make-A-Wish. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the chapter serves 57 counties in Western, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania and all of West Virginia.
Plum is a staple in the “Kids for Wish Kids” program and one of its biggest fundraisers in the chapter and all of Make-A-Wish, said Jake Seavy, development coordinator for the Make-A-Wish chapter.
“Last year was a big milestone for them,” he said. “We’re excited to have the telethon back. We’re pumped to be there in person again.”
With 2020’s telethon missed because of covid, Berrott said the event has now lined up with the year — with the 22nd being held in 2022.
“It’s just insane to think that we’ve been doing this for 22 years. I never would have guessed that,” he said. “We’ve raised over $1 million. It’s mind-boggling to me.”