WEEI/NESN back at bat for Jimmy Fund

WEEI morning show cohosts Gerry Callahan (left) and John Dennis flank Jimmy Fund Clinic patient Caroline Miller, 13, during a recent visit to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon is next week. (WEEI)

For John Dennis, the reward is a brightly colored heart. As the WEEI-AM (850) morning host prepares for the station's seventh annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, he looks at a paper heart colored red, purple, and green. Five-year-old Melanie colored that heart for him, he explains. The little girl from Norwood has been a frequent visitor to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since she was diagnosed with cancer 2 1/2 years ago. This year, he's happy to report, she's home.

"She's been in remission for a year," says Dennis, "and they bring her in every two months to check her up. The night before they bring her in, there's a pit in the stomach. Then, for another two months, everyone can breathe."

Stories like this, says Dennis, are why the station keeps raising the bar for this event, which raises money for cancer research and care at the institute through the Jimmy Fund. This year, the station has expanded the marathon event to two full days (Aug. 14-15, from 6 a.m. until midnight, and also has a new goal of raising $4 million for the fund. Last year's event raised $3.4 million in 18 hours. Since it began in 2002, the event has raised nearly $12 million.

"The heartache is that some of the kids who you met last year aren't there," says Dennis, who'll kick off the radiothon with morning show cohost Gerry Callahan from Fenway Park. "But there are success stories. It breaks your heart, but it makes you understand that the money, the research, are saving lives."

To urge listeners to contribute, the station invites celebrities to drop by, and this year Ben Affleck, Jim Belushi, and Dane Cook are among those expected to take part. Even more moving, however, are the stories the station airs about the real people involved with Dana-Farber. Interviews with children and their families, doctors, nurses, and researchers provide both drama and humor to the broadcast, and make what could be an abstract cause touchingly real for anyone tuning in.

"Everything is dedicated to telling someone's story," says Jason Wolfe, vice president of AM programming for the station's parent company, Entercom. "Whether it's a doctor talking about research or someone's cure, or people who have been part of this event either because there has been a success story in their lives, or there has been a tragedy. Their stories are part of this, too."

The broadcast, which will include special opening ceremonies at Red Sox games on both days, is quite a shift from the station's usual sports talk. But sports will be the focus of corollary fund-raising events. On Thursday, Dennis and Tom Caron of NESN will host a "Trophy Talk With Boston's Best" luncheon, with Bruins great Ray Bourque and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. On Aug. 15, the "Sit Down With the Sox" lunch will feature a panel of players. Tickets to each are $75. Information on the luncheons and on pledging is available at www.weei.com. A special site, www.jimmyfundradiotelethon.org, is already open for pledges, and the station will be taking phone pledges during the event at 877-738-1234.

"We have two days to actually mean something on radio," says Dennis. "It's fulfilling, and I'm looking forward to taking a break from Manny and the Red Sox."