(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Organized Labor shined over the weekend during the 58th Annual Variety Club Kids Telethon that benefits the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, donating more than $40,000 towards the event, which raised more than $1 million.

“I am ‘amazed’ (by the involvement of Local Labor in the event), ‘but I’m not surprised’ - because when (Labor) ‘comes together, this is what we do,”’ Teamsters Local 264 Business Agent Tony Vaccaro (Pictured below, standing next to Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Denise Abbott), who served as both Labor Chair and Co-Chair for the Variety Club Telethon, told WNYLaborToday.com on Monday (March 2nd).

The two-day, televised Variety Club Telethon was held at the Seneca-Niagara Casino in nearby Niagara Falls and raised more than $1 million in overall donations. 

While tabulations are not yet final, Vaccaro told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper he anticipated an initial $40,000 raised by Labor would rise.  The dollars were generated through raffles, auctions, gate collections and sales of a specially-designed sticker and magnet.

“Our Unions ‘have always been good contributors.’  ‘Getting everybody there and being so energized, we get good numbers’.  While ‘we are’ Union Leaders and Members, ‘we’re also parents and grandparents - and with such a great hospital here in our own backyard, we can take it for granted.’ ‘We don’t have to leave Western New York to go somewhere else.’  ‘That’s why it always falls into place’ (the turnout by local Labor for the annual telethon),” he said.

In addition to the money raised, dozens of Union Representatives and Members also volunteered their time Sunday (March 1st) during a two-hour Labor Hour on Sunday in order to answer phones and take donations.  In fact, there was such an outpouring that at least 12 Union Representatives “couldn’t be put out on phones” to take donations, he said.

Those Labor Volunteers came from several of the area’s Union Community - including: The Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Western Region 6 and Local 815; the Communications Workers of America (CWA) - Locals 1122, 1133 and 1168; the United Auto Workers (UAW) - Local 686 and 774; the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) area Teachers’ Associations; the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU); the Public Employees Federation (PEF); the United Steelworkers (USW); the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council; the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 4 of Western New York and Central New York; the Local Chapter of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA); and Teamsters Local 264 - as well as Representatives and Staffers from the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, including Council President Denise Abbott, the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) and the New York State AFL-CIO, to name just a few.

The Variety Kids Telethon is the Nation’s longest-running, locally-produced telethons. 

It started back in 1962 when Dr. Robert Warner asked Variety to help him fulfill his dream of a rehabilitation center for children with special needs.  

The first Annual Variety Kids Telethon raised more than $80,000 and the Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center for Children with Special Needs became a reality at the then Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, which is now known as the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. 

The Telethon also funds dozens of local children’s non-profits, in addition to the Hospital, with every penny staying in Western New York, Telethon Officials said.

For More Information On The Annual Variety Club Telethon, Go To: https://varietybuffalo.org/telethon/

Photos Courtesy Of William Mayor of International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT)/District Council 4 Via Facebook.