This Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6, tune in to KEYT-Channel 3 to watch miracle stories from Cottage Children’s Hospital in Santa Barbara and the Children’s Miracle Network.

National celebrities Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Phil McGraw, LeAnn Rimes and others, along with CMN co-founders Marie Osmond and John Schneider will be part of the Cottage Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network telethon broadcast, which will air from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Children’s Miracle Network partners with premier children’s hospitals across North America to help raise funds to ensure that all children, regardless of family income, have access to high quality hospital services.

All of the money raised during the Central Coast broadcast will go directly to Cottage Children’s Hospital to fulfill its mission of serving the children on the Central Coast and surrounding communities.

The broadcast will showcase a number of touching stories about local children and teens, some of whom owe their lives to the doctors and nurses who treated them and to the technology made possible through community donations.

In addition, the broadcast will include music and dance performances by local students. The performers in this year’s local broadcast, which has been entirely pre-taped, include the following:

» Goleta Valley Junior High School cast members of the musical Honk!, featuring Daniel Salinas, Talya Steinberg, Gracie Barker, Macy Broesamle, Luana Psaros and Sofia Ross

» Young Singers Club members Holly Hadsall, Grace Wenzel and Audrey Harmand

» Everybody Dance Now Performance Troupe members Pablo Gatica, Alondra Gatica and Lizbeth Navarro

» Santa Barbara Strings, inaugural performance

» Santa Barbara High School Jazz Band benefit jam

» Jensen’s Guitar students Jamey Geston and Travis Tighe

» Christopher Roteman, master of ceremonies at Mother’s Day Dinner & Talent Show

Click here for more information about the telethon. Last year, the telethon raised funds totaling more than $525,000.

— Maria Zate is the marketing and public affairs manager for Cottage Health System.