The National Community Foundation held its largest fund raising event on Sunday. Affectionately known as the Telethon, NCF mobilized assistance from both private and public entities to make the event a success.
This year’s Telethon was held at the Gaiety on Rodney Bay and placed emphasis on an international food fair along with musical performances and a special section for the kids including bouncing castles and various paraphernalia and trinkets to keep them entertained. Celebrities who contributed their time to answering the phones and taking pledges consisted of the likes of Senator Emma Hippolyte, Commissioner of Police Vernon Francois and media icons Sharon Williams and Lucius Doxerie, just to name a few.
The Mexican Ambassador to St Lucia, Gerado Lozano, told the STAR his embassy throws its full support behind the initiative. In fact, Mexico has a similar activity to raise funds for the less fortunate and for Lozano, it is an honour to be able to assist St Lucia in whatever way possible.
The ultimate Kids Zone.
Executive Director of the NCF, Juliana Alfred, is pleased at the activity’s success. There were many changes to the program, venue and set up this year. She told the STAR: “The changes worked in NCF’s favour. We are very excited with what happened on Sunday. The public response has been tremendous. People have been saying they were very satisfied with what transpired in terms of the outdoor activities as well as the indoor events. It was a relaxing environment. People were able to eat, be entertained and of course have a nice, comfortable setting to pledge.”
Most important for the NCF were the funds raised. Last year NCF did not meet its $250,000 target. The 2010 total was just about $181,000. This year things were different. NCF set a target of $200,000 and has so far raised some $218,000 and pledges continue to pour in.
Facepainting completes any family oriented event.
Alfred believes the pledge total will change come next week as individuals and organizations are still donating to the cause.
Where does the money from the Telethon go? Alfred answered: “We are going to continue our existing programs like the scholarship program which currently has about 130 students. We provide support from Form One all the way to Form Five. We will also continue our medical support. Persons who are having difficulties undertaking medical interventions, we provide the support. And also our other programs with vulnerable groups like the youth at risk or the elderly or persons with disabilities will continue as well. A new feature for us since Hurricane Tomas has been a set of projects targeting persons and individuals and schools that have been affected by Tomas. That funding will go to supplementing these types of programs because we do recognize the needs that have arisen because of the hurricane and we are doing our part to assist these individuals.”
Persons who still want to donate can do so by direct deposit to the NCF’s account: Bank of St Lucia, account number 104511121 or 1st National Bank account number 8405087. Interested persons can also call the NCF office at 758-453-6661 or LIME clients can text the word DONATE to 4405 to give $5, 4420 to give $20 or 4450 to give $50.
