Hosts Jessica Holmes, left, and Eric McCormack, right, return to Lead With Love 3. City National Bank’s Linda Duncombe presented Project Angel Food CEO Richard Ayoub with a check in 2021. (photo courtesy of Project Angel Food)

Not every telethon is able to tap Oprah Winfrey as a headliner, but the third annual Lead With Love from Project Angel Food will not only boast Winfrey, but also stars ranging from Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Stone, Paula Abdul and Gloria Estefan to Eugene Levy, Fran Drescher, Bryce Dallas Howard and Sean Hayes.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Among other highlights of Lead With Love 3 will be a “Charlie’s Angels” reunion of Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith, live performances from Taylor Dayne and Debbie Gibson, and prerecorded performances from artists like Sarah McLachlan.

The Eric McCormick and Jessica Holmes-hosted telethon will air live on KTLA July 23, with Loni Love and Alec Mapa returning as the broadcast co-hosts. The event benefits the more than 30-year-old charity, which helps to deliver meals to people suffering from critical illnesses. Founded by Marianne Williamson in 1989, the organization initially worked to serve the large number of HIV/AIDS patients in Los Angeles County at that time. Over the years, its reach to those in need has expanded, and events like the telethon help to keep Project Angel Food afloat.

“The title [of the telethon] is very deliberate,” CEO Richard Ayoub said. “Everything you do, lead with love. As a leader, lead with love. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

Ayoub said the funds raised will make real, tangible differences for the nonprofit organization’s clientele.

“One of the women that we are profiling, Cindy, who is diabetic, gets insulin shots six times a day,” he said. “She’s also caring for her daughter who has Down syndrome but also heart failure. Both of them are on different medically-tailored meal programs. Not all clients are alike. We customize each meal to their specific medical needs, and they are saying that they are feeling better. Their health outcomes are better. They’re feeling better day-to-day because they are receiving these meals.”

Ayoub said there has been an increased need for additional donations in recent months because of inflation.

“What’s really, really important about this year, more than any other year, is because of inflation, because the cost of gasoline has gone up 81% and we have 13 vans, so we have to fuel those tanks every week. The cost of food has gone up dramatically, and the cost of our employees, labor cost, have gone up. So, it cost $1.15 more today to make a meal than it did just six months ago. You multiply that by a million … we need at least a million extra dollars just to keep up with the pace from last year,” Ayoub said.

He had the idea for the telethon to be a new fundraising event.

“Three years ago, when the pandemic began, we had to cancel every single event,” Ayoub said. “And so, we had to be creative in coming up with ways to fill the fundraising gap. And I, as a kid, always loved the Jerry Lewis telethons, and I thought, ‘Why don’t we do a new, hi-tech version of a telethon. And I want to do it on KTLA. I want to do it with a local anchor … and I want it to be with celebrities, and I want to have a phone bank with celebrities. And I want to have entertainment.’ And all the dreams that I had, Brad made happen.”

‘Brad’ is Brad Bessey, the Emmy-winning former executive producer of “Entertainment Tonight.” Bessey now serves as the director of communications and talent relations at Project Angel Food. So, when the challenge came to put together a star-caliber telethon, he was up to the task.

With Bessey joining Ayoub in leading the charge, they were able to put together the first telethon in 2020 in just four weeks, ultimately nabbing a headliner performance from Kelly Clarkson.

“She was trying to work it out,” Bessey said. “It was COVID, she was doing her show, they were behind. I literally heard ‘no’ from her team about six times, but I stayed at it, and we got her. Because in my mind, she was opening our show, and I had to do everything I could to get this to happen.”

In just one short night, the organization was able to raise an impressive $720,000.

“We said, ‘Okay, let’s do it again,’ and the next year we raised $1 million,” Ayoub said. “And then this is our third year, and our goal is to raise … you know, over a million if we can. Whatever we can do.”

Bessey said it’s Ayoub’s leadership that has helped continue to drive the organization toward its mission in recent years.

“He is a spirit of optimism and a spirit of rising above adversity,” Bessey said.

“There’s no coincidence that angel is part of our title,” Ayoub said. “And there’s a little halo around everything we do.”

And ultimately, the evening is about giving that little halo to those in need.

“What we’re actually doing is setting a context that no matter what the challenges are in front of us, we have the ability and the human spirit. And that’s really the context of what this two hours is about,” he added.

The show begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, on KTLA. For information, visit angelfood.org/events/lead-with-love-3.

To donate to Project Angel Food, visit angelfood.org/delivery/donate/donate.