SCRANTON, Pa. — The Black and Blue Ball is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Northeast PA. WNEP is a sponsor.
It meant tens of thousands of dollars raised in one night to help people with neuromuscular diseases, providing health care services, even summer camps for kids.
However, this year's glittering gala in Scranton was canceled because of COVID-19.
"That's 20 years of every year growing, so we're at the point where we've collected millions of dollars over the years at this one-day event, usually grossing $200,000 and now all of that money is out of the kitty this year," said Don Jacobs of the MDA of NEPA. "So you think about muscular dystrophy across the country, and the month of March, the word that we got as a board is, they lost $10 million simply by canceling all of the events. That's money not going to research, money not staying here locally going to our families."
The American Heart Association hosts its annual walk at PNC Field in Lackawanna County. Like so many other organizations, the Heart Association had to cancel the walk. Instead, it came up with an alternative: a virtual walk to raise awareness and money.
"For us, it has made a huge impact, especially when our health systems are our largest supporters. So, you know when there's people not working and when there's people whose focus is on something different at the moment, it takes away from our event and what we're able to accomplish," said Amy Skiba of The Americans Heart Association.
The national MDA is also hosting a virtual fundraising event.
Staff and volunteers with these different organizations said they understand it is not the same, but they need to do what they can to keep money coming in and the mission going.
"Somewhere there's a budget that's either dwindling or not growing the way that it should, based on what's going on and a lot of charities are having a lot of problems," added Jacobs.
Organization leaders said they will do what they can this year and start planning as soon as possible for next year's events.