Foundation president says annual telethon a success

This year's Bay St. George Sick Children's Foundation telethon has left it's board thrilled.

The telethon, which was held two Sundays ago, brought in $64,329 in pledges from people around the province, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta; even as far away as the United States.

"A lot of those people have the Internet and we were hooked through the college website," said Baden Clouter, foundation vice-president. "So that proved to be an added bonus for us."

Foundation president Bill Dunne said the annual event has far beyond exceeded their expectations.

"The people of Bay St. George have got to be commended for the enormous support that they offered us and continue to offer us all through the year," he said.

In particular, Mr. Dunne said the local Lion's Club for offered up its building for the day's production, an abundance of local talent came by to perform, community volunteers answered calls and the college's journalism students ran the broadcast, to name but a few of the groups who contributed.

The foundation had set an initial fundraising goal of $75,000 for the telethon, and while the pledges amounted to $64,329, Mr. Clouter noted when all is said and done, their goal will have been met and exceeded.

The local Indian Head Co-op supports the foundation year round through their 50/50 draws. As a result, they have contributed around $25,000, which Mr. Clouter said will be combined with the telethon amount.

Mr. Dunne said the telethon and its success was made possible by the support of the community.

"It's a huge, huge, huge community effort. When you think of the amount of people going down through the list ... It was an enormous effort on everyone's part to pull that off," he said.

Monies raised through the telethon will be administered by the foundation to help working families with sick children with the costs of travel and accommodations while seeking medical help.