The 12-hour podcast (Pardcast-athon) last week hosted by Jimmy Pardo raked in over $28,000 for the charity Smile Train, whose mission is helping children in third world countries with cleft lip and palate.
The 2009 Pardcast-a-thon took 9 hours and raised $16,000 with appearances from Jon Hamm, Chris Hardwick, Greg Behrendt, Maria Bamford and many more. This year, on the day after Thanksgiving, comedians such as Sarah Silverman, Tom Dreesen, Rob Corddry, Andy Richter and others helped Mr. Pardo well exceed the goal of $20,000 in 12 hours.
Cleft lip and palate can cause a variety of debilitating problems. More than just a cosmetic defect, these conditions can also interfere with a child’s speech development and breathing function. Fortunately, all it takes to repair cleft lip and palate is a 45-minute operation that costs just $250, according to Smile Train. Volunteer reconstructive surgeons routinely travel with Smile Train mission groups to perform the operations.
Cleft palate repair can be done when a child is around 9-18 months old, while cleft lip repair can be done earlier (at about 10 weeks). With the funds raised by this year’s pardcast-a-thon, over 100 children will be able to undergo reconstructive surgery.