Dr. Laura sets hot pace among talk hosts
By Alan Linder
TALKERS MAGAZINE
Assistant Publisher
The gorgeous jewelry pictured above was handcrafted by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and is a small sample of the pieces she sells for charity via her website.
SPRINGFIELD -- TALKERS magazine added a new category two years ago (The Sharon L. Harrison Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host) to its relatively short list of official honors presented at the annual New Media Seminar. After launching extensive research to select worthy candidates, it was discovered that this medium abounds with humanitarianism, benevolence and good will -- much of which flies under the radar of the mainstream press.
This year's recipient, syndicated host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, is a prime example of a talent who is known mainly for the controversy generated by the conversation on her program which, in many ways, is just the tip of an iceberg of community activity and public service that contribute largely to the bedrock of her enormous success.
In making the award presentation to Dr. Laura, Talk Media, Inc. CEO Carole Marks stated, "She is one of a handful of hard working, unique stars who have stood among the very top talk show hosts in the nation in national syndication for almost two decades and for years before that in the highly competitive Los Angeles market. She is brave. She is controversial. She is supremely talented.
She is colorful and she is indeed a household name. Her success goes way beyond the airwaves. She is the author of 11 best-selling books which put in print all her principles and the responses of people who've struggled with selfishness, fear, rage and ambivalence only to go on to find a better way. But these impressive accomplishments are not what we are here to honor. We are here to acknowledge the fact that this amazing woman is one of the most charitable community servants in our industry and an example of how the power of talk radio can be used productively to help others."
Dr. Laura Schlessinger has raised more than $1 million for the non-profit organization Operation Family Fund -- an organization that operates with no overhead. That means ALL the money it raises -- every single dollar - goes to providing help and support for the families of American military personnel whose lives have been severely impacted by serious injury or death in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
A military mother herself, her 60th birthday bash last year alone raised almost $250,000 for this extremely worthy cause. In spite of her busy career, she designs and handcrafts her own jewelry which she puts on sale on her website. She also donates all the proceeds from her quarterly jewelry sales to Operation Family Fund. Soon she will have the jewelry sales all year long, and not just four times a year.
A very good sport, she allowed herself to be dunked in a water tank at a Santa Barbara Harley-Davidson dealership "Thanks for Giving" event and she auctioned off the right to throw a pie in her face when she was a guest with Circus Vargas. The money earned from both of these promotions was donated to Operation Family Fund. Prior to supporting Operation Family Fund, she spearheaded a foundation bearing her name that gathered materials supplied to children rescued from abusive and neglectful homes called "My Stuff." This effort provided kids in need with "My Stuff" bags containing personal items such as clothes, toiletries, school materials, and toys.
After Katrina, she "auctioned" herself off for $10,000 for a listener to have lunch and a ride on her sailboat with her and raised $30,000 for her Los Angeles affiliate KFI's efforts. She has done innumerable similar "auctions" for children's charities, boys and girls clubs, and more working in league with a number of her affiliates individually across the nation.
She has supported Hospice, founding a yearly award for the "Best Volunteer" in her hometown of Santa Barbara, California.
|
Much of her charity work is below the radar: She has donated a motorcycle to be sold so that the revenue would be used to make a new Harley-Davidson "trike" for a handicapped Vietnam veteran. She paid the fees in Santa Barbara to permit the young men and women sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan to visit. She supported purchasing equipment for the local sheriff's department. She financially assisted a local high school theater department after an equipment theft, and countless more wonderful acts of helping those in need.
|
MOTORCYCLE MAMA. Dr. Laura sitting on the Harley-Davidson "trike" she helped raise money for that was donated to a handicapped Vietnam veteran.
|
She was honored in 2007 with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award in Washington, DC. Upon stepping to the podium to address the New Media Seminar and accept her award, Dr. Laura was so overcome with emotion that she abandoned her prepared speech and spontaneously spoke from the heart -- a presentation that moved the audience to tears and inspired a thunderous standing ovation. During her speech she stated, "I'm sure you've read accounts of people in the concentration camps who gave away what little food they barely had to somebody else. They were both going to die anyway. What is the point of giving your food away? You were both going to die anyway! Because bringing a light into somebody else's life is what we live for. It gives our lives purpose. And without purpose, there is despair. And you know how it must feel? I don't. But maybe some of you do. To know you're going to your death, and to do something nice for somebody else. You're not in despair. So I'm crying over this because this has been a search and struggle."
To hear a recording of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's complete remarks at the New Media Seminar please visit Podjockey at
www.podjockey.com.
Alan Linder is assistant-to-the-publisher for TALKERS magazine.
|
|
