Maura Tierney and Meredith Vieira Pitch in for the Jimmy Fund

The 36-hour Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon kicked off Thursday, Aug. 19 and wrapped up the following night. As part of the festivities, Today Show co-host Meredith Vieira and actress Maura Tierney threw out the first pitch at the Red Sox game. In the past, other celebs, like Boston homeboy and Red Sox Nation member Ben Affleck, have lent a hand to the event.

The Jimmy Fund supports the work of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The Red Sox adopted the Jimmy Fund, which seeks to save lives, find cures and improve the quality of life for children and families facing cancer as its official charity in 1953. The Jimmy Fund has had a long relationship with radio ever since 12-year-old cancer patient Elnar Gustafson, the first so-called "Jimmy," spoke about his condition and the need for cancer research on the national radio show Truth or Consequences in 1948.

Both Tierney and Vieira have been personally touched by cancer. Tierney, 45, whose late father was a Boston city councilor, was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Most well-known for her role as nurse Abby Lockhart on ER, she was set to star in an NBC drama Parenthood when she diagnosed and underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her breast. She finished her treatment in January of this year and returned to acting. Vieira is married to CBS News journalist Richard M. Cohen who has had two bouts of colon cancer.

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