69th Annual Eagles Cancer Telethon tops $1 million, sees leadership change

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The 69th annual Eagles Cancer Telethon wrapped up Sunday at 4 p.m. raising more than $1 million.

The donations will be going to Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Hormel Institute for Cancer Research and the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center. This was also Teresea Chapman’s last year serving as executive director for the telethon.

“You look at that tote board and it lifts you up. To go out with a million dollars, the generosity of this community, Brett will have a wonderful time running this charity,” Chapman said.

While this was Chapman’s last year, she will still be around volunteering for the telethon. She says her favorite moment from this year’s telethon was the survivor’s moment.

“That’s why we’re here, so that’s my favorite,” Chapman said.

Taking over for Chapman will be Brett Carlson, he says he is looking forward to making an impact in the fight against cancer.

“She’s a little lady but she’s got some big shoes to fill, I’m nervous and excited, they have been doing this for sixty-nine years they really know how to through a telethon and I’m really looking forward to playing my part,” Carlson said.

The telethon takes a lot of manpower to run every year, one of the key parts to raising the money are the people who collect the donations.

“It’s just really exciting to see that the people that want to give their donations and really passionate about finding a cure for cancer and all the volunteers that really requires to make it happen and the passion in everyone to really make it a success,” collection chair Erin Henderson said.

While there were more than 120 acts performing in the telethon, there were other activities there, too.

“This is my second year for doing the telethon, but I have a really strong connection to the telethon, I’ve been doing the camera operation and then I was asked a couple years ago to take over the tile for a cure,” owner of The Creative Place Nicki Novotne said.

Nivatni says cancer has touched her family in more ways than one.

“My son had cancer three years ago, he was a fighter and I know that because of the research that was done through the cancer telethon and the Hormel Institute that we were able to fight the cancer because of it,” Novotne said.

With the fight against cancer, there comes a lot of emotions, that’s why Missy Thompson set up a station where people could knock out cancer.

“I had some young kids come up and just going at the bags and having their parents come up and say this is for my sister, my aunt, my brother and just throwing their punches and then seeing the survivors walk up on stage is really meaningful,” Thompson said.

While the telethon did wrap up this Sunday afternoon, the Eagles accept donations all year long. For more information about how to donate, click here.

Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.