Jerry Lewis Receives Australian Honor for Muscular Dystrophy Fundraising
Published at
Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS(LAS VEGAS) — Jerry Lewis is no longer involved in the Muscular Dystrophy Association annual telethon that aired Sunday, but he was honored Friday for his decades-long fundraising efforts to find a cure for the disease by Australian officials who presented him with their country’s highest civilian award.
The Las Vegas Sun reports Australian officials with the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, which is not formally associated with the MDA, flew to Las Vegas and honored Lewis as a Member of the Order of Australia. The 88-year-old Lewis received a gold medal and a lapel pin. Lewis has helped raise more than $2 billion for MDA during his 45-year association with the group, and has also visited Australia and raised millions of dollars for that country’s MDF.
Sunday’s two-hour MDA Show of Strength Telethon on ABC raised more than $56 million.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association severed its fundraising relationship with Lewis after the 2010 MDA Labor Day Telethon.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio