Philly Radio: WMGK Vets Radiothon Raises $144K+

Rod Stewart, John DeBella

Today’s 102.9 WMGK 8th Annual John DeBella Veterans Radiothon was a huge success.

As of this afternoon, the Radiothon has already raised $144,173 to benefit local veterans via the Veterans Multi-Service Center (VMC).

One of this year’s biggest contributors was rocker, Rod Stewart.  The raspy voiced singer donated $10,000 as well as an autographed guitar.  The guitar raised $2,500 in one of the online eBay auctions that the station held. All funds raised from the online auctions also went to the VMC.

“In December we had a great interview with Rod and he invited the show backstage to meet and have a drink. We arrived with a guitar and asked him to sign it for the Veterans Radiothon. That’s when we found out what a huge veterans supporter he was and he offered to call back for the Radiothon. We were thrilled to have him back on the air today, and shocked when we later found out that he made a $10,000 donation through the VMC website. The man walks the walk,” commented the very grateful John DeBella.

An impressive list of celebrities called in to voice their support for this year’s Radiothon including:  Kiss’ Paul Stanley, comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Dom Irrera and Lewis Black.  Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter also called in to encourage listeners to support the brave men and women who have put their lives on the line for our country.

John DeBella’s wife Lisa and her sister, Angela Kapp, also made a significant contribution to this year’s Radiothon.  They made a matching donation for every $100 donation made, resulting in a donation of $15,000.  The donation was made in memory of their father, decorated World War II veteran, Harold Kapp.

Over the past eight years, John DeBella has raised over $644,173 for the VMC in his annual Radiothon. His dedication to veterans has been recognized by various organizations – the VMC has named an award after him and in 2012 he received the ‘Veteran Champion of the Year Award’ from the Philadelphia Small Business Association.

The Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service Center’s mission is to provide services, programs, opportunity and advancement to Veterans of the U.S. military and their families. Each year they serve 2,500 individual veterans, provide over 172,000 meals to homeless veterans, place over 300 veterans in jobs, and place over 500 veterans in housing.