An army of West Coast Eagles players and staff swooped on the Telethon phone room yesterday, taking calls from all over Western Australia and helping to bring the 2010 Telethon Weekend total past a staggering $9 million.
Despite a last-minute cancellation by movie star John Travolta after reports his pregnant wife had gone into labour, the mammoth 26-hour Channel Seven broadcast raised $9,237,539 for Telethon’s beneficiaries, breaking the previous record of $7.5 million.
While Andrew Embley, Mark Nicoski, and Ashton Hams were busy reading out donations on the Telethon panel, crowd favourites Nic Naitanui and Daniel Kerr were happy to hand over a cheque from the club's round 19 Telethon match day fundraiser for $34,381.30, presented on behalf of the club and West Coast’s principal community partner BHP Billiton Iron Ore.
Naitanui, who also had the privilege of officially closing the fundraising event last night, thanked everyone for their generosity and contributions.
‘It’s been a great day, we’ve had a lot of fun, but more importantly we’ve helped raise funds for kids all across the state,’ he said.
Other Eagles helping on the day included Luke Shuey, Brett Jones, Brad Ebert, Will Schofield, Chris Masten and Rick ‘the Rock’ Eagle, all who enjoyed chatting to fans and taking pledges in the Telethon phone room.
