CBS3 in Alex telethon mode all day

For the second year, CBS3 today breaks format to host a 15-hour telethon to raise money for the Lower Merion-based Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

A phone bank will air in segments until 9 p.m., and the syndicated programming in three hour-long blocks (at 9 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m.) will be pre-empted for coverage, which includes portions of the Emmy Award-winning 2006 documentary "Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope.

The documentary was written, directed and voiced by Larry Mendte, who is off the air during an FBI investigation. The work was rerecorded with the voices of other CBS3 anchors.

Alex's Lemonade Stand, which has raised millions to fight childhood cancer, began in 2000, when Alexandra Scott, a 4-year-old girl with cancer, set up a stand in the front yard of her family's home and raised $2,000. She died in August 2004 of neuroblastoma, a frequently fatal form of childhood cancer.

Anchor and reporters Susan Barnett, Pat Ciarrocchi, Liz Keptner, Chris May, Stephanie Stahl and Ukee Washington, plus Alex's parents, Jay and Liz Scott, are participating. Meteorologist Kathy Orr is at a Rita's Water Ice stand on Ocean City's boardwalk, hosting a lemonade stand to collect donations.

The telethon will launch the foundation's Lemonade Days 2008, a three-day national fund-raiser during which people host stands of their owns. The stands last year reportedly raised $1 million.