MOLINE, Illinois - You'll see big changes with the annual Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day telethon this year. For one thing, it won't be held on Labor Day.
The telethon is now being called the "MDA Show of Strength". It will air for two hours Sunday night on News 8 and on all ABC stations across America.
“This is a remarkably hopeful time for MDA and our mission to find new treatments and cures as we set our sights on pursuing muscle health,” said MDA President and CEO Steven M. Derks.
There is no longer a local broadcast in the "Jim King Studios" at WQAD in Moline. Instead, the entire broadcast will come from one studio and air nationwide.
The telethon aired on WQAD since 1971.
MDA also says it is planning a comprehensive digital and social media campaign to drive online fundraising and engage supporters in new ways.
There are some traditions which will continue this Labor Day weekend.
Firefighters from throughout the region will collect donations for M.D.A.
They'll hit the streets and be at grocery store parking lots in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. These efforts often bring in substantial donations to the local MDA fundraising effort.
The MDA office in Cedar Rapids says the "Fill the Boot" campaign starts Friday, August 30 in Davenport, Monmouth, Sterling and Tampico. Firefighters will also be on the streets Saturday in those cities.
Moline firefighters will be on the streets for the boot campaign Saturday.
East Moline and Ft. Madison firefighters will collect for MDA both Saturday and Sunday.