Tune in to pre-season telethon

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Local volunteers are looking ahead with lots of Christmas spirit, and they’re hoping you’ll tune in at noon November 9 for the annual Christmas Mommies and Daddies Valley telethon. “This is our 25th year on EastLink Television - before that it was Mid-Valley Cable and Bragg Communications,” says volunteer Kingston Lion Bob Lyle.

The campaign is 40 years old altogether, having started as Friendly Neighbours in 1968 as a 14 Wing Greenwood base welfare program for local needy families. It’s expanded over the years, serving families from Coldbrook to Lawrencetown.

Friendly Neighbours co-ordinates the Christmas hamper program - several hundred boxes of food, toys, clothing and other necessities. Lions Clubs in Coldbrook, Berwick, Aylesford and Kingston help run the fundraising telethon and then help pack and deliver the hampers just before the holiday.

This year’s telethon is earlier than normal, but Lyle says it’s a doozy. “We have over $10,000 in donated merchandise and certificates for the on-air auction - all from local businesses,” he says. “Isn’t that fantastic!”

To make it easier for bidders at home to take in close to 200 items, lists of the auction blocks will be available in advance at the Kingston village office and at the Aylesford fire hall - the home of the telethon - on broadcast day.

And, of course, there’s the entertainment. Lyle says a brass quartet will open the show at noon, and play a mini-concert to kick things off for mary’s Islanders, Alan Butler, Mac Balsor, the Pine Ridge and West Kings bands and choirs - and many more. “People are welcome to drop in and sit for awhile. They can bid from the floor, watch the entertainment and just take in the telethon. “I enjoy it - all the Lions and volunteers do, and more people have asked us this year if they can be a part of it. It’s a lot of work - but a lot of fun, and it all comes together for the community.”

Pledges can be made during the telethon by calling 847-2008 or toll-free 1-877-305-4667. Pledges can be honoured at the Royal Bank in Berwick and Coldbrook, CIBC in Kingston and Greenwood, the Credit Union in Cambridge and Chisholm’s Pharmachoice in Aylesford. Last year’s telethon raised close to $25,000. “That’s enough to do what we need to do, and it goes right back into our community,” Lyle says. “We expect there will be more demand for help this year.”

Friendly Neighbours’ hamper applications will be available in local stores right after the telethon.