Shine your light! Be our Star! RFB&D-LA's 16th Annual Record-A-Thon Kickoff was held Saturday, April 5, 2008 at our Hollywood studio, and it was indeed a star-filled event! We received many comments that this was the best kickoff ever, with department staff from Educational Outreach, Production, Development and Communications all contributing to the outstanding and very entertaining kickoff to the weeklong Record-A-Thon event!

Stars like Betty White, James Pickens, Jr. (Grey's Anatomy), Terri Garr, Julie Newmar ("Catwoman"), Lee Meriwether (another "Catwoman!"), Kate Linder (The Young and the Restless), Michael Kostroff (The Wire), and more joined news anchors from CBS2 (our biggest turnout, which included Kent Shocknek, Sandra Mitchell and Vera Jimenez), ABC7 (Phillip Palmer), Stephanie Edwards and Leila Feinstein (KTLA), and

Staff, Volunteer Steve Grant and Betty White

Fox11 (Mark Thompson). We were also thrilled to have anchors and reporters from five radio stations this year! Larry Elder (KABC and syndicated), Shannon Farren and Aron Bender (KFI), Claudia Peschiutta (KNX), Hettie Lynne Hurtes (KPCC) and Mitch Earle (KCRW) were all welcome guests, many of them first-timers too! All the celebrities recorded textbooks that will be added to our national library of more than 43,000 digitally recorded CDs.

Press coverage included lovely pieces running on KCAL9 and CBS2 multiple days, along with ABC7's daily "7-day Planner" on the news and their website, and web presence on KTLA, KNBC and KFI! The Park La Brea News/Beverly Press also covered the event.

We were all enchanted by new guests: dancers from Champs Charter High School in Van Nuys. Performing Arts Co-Chair Kyme Sallid brought three dancers and two amazing dances for volunteers, students and celebrities to enjoy. Gabriella Lemus and Justice Nnanna performed a Tango, and James Cowan performed a tap number called "Sing, Sing, Sing." The students were enthralling performers; professional with absolutely spot-on technique. RFB&D-LA is so grateful for these young talents, and we hope that they will become annual guests!

Our other captivating and delightful entertainers were J.J. Gatchalian, and his student Holly Hall. Holly is a mere 8-years-old, and did a bang-up job playing drums along to a familiar Beatles tune with J.J. on keyboards! J.J. is a former RFB&D-LA Scholastic Achievement Award winner who graduated with a degree in music from University of California Santa Barbara. We were also pleased to welcome back J.J.'s family, and Holly's mom, dad and three young sisters!

Our volunteers collect pledges to support their extra time in the recording booth during the contest, as Record-A-Thons goals are raising awareness, raising funds, and creating more critical audio textbooks for students with disabilities. Check back here to see which of our volunteers read the most hours, and collected the most funds!

Don't forget to visit the photo album here