AJ at 60 feet!

Star 94.1 morning show host AJ Machado showed his compassion, daring and showmanship once again this year, as he spent an entire week on a scissor lift crane on behalf of patients at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. His efforts and those of Radio station KMYI resulted in the collection of 101,620 toys for the kids.

At 8 am on October 16, 2009, Machado took up residence on an 8’ x 10’ platform, 60 feet above the Mission Valley IKEA parking lot, vowing to stay until the station collected more than 101-thousand new and unwrapped toys for the children. That happened on Saturday, October 23rd at 6:00 pm.

In an effort to encourage listener participation many celebrities joined the deejay at the site. The Plain White T’s, One Republic, Esmee Denters, the cast of the Lion King, Carlos Mencia, Frankie J, Luis Castillo, Kiptyn from the Bachelorette, the Park View Little League team and Josh Damigo all showed up over the seven day stint, lending their support.

The Park View Little League Team Pays a Visit to AJ

“Despite our difficult economy, San Diegans have always shown their generosity and we were confident this year would be no exception,” said Machado. “Something as simple as a toy can make the fear and pain of a child’s illness or injury easier to bare. The toys we collected will brighten the lives of thousands of children receiving treatment at Rady Children’s Hospital over the next 12 months.”

101,000+ Toys for Kids

This was the eighth year in a row AJ took up residence (eating, sleeping, etc.) on the crane. Contributions were accepted at the event site and at North County Credit Union locations.

Posted under Community Cuts