Organizers of a charity for children with special needs are asking British Columbians to open their hearts and wallets to help.
Variety—The Children’s Charity returns to television on Global BC with its 48th annual Show of Hearts Telethon, its biggest fundraising event during the year, on the weekend of January 25 and 26. It is being broadcast slightly earlier this year because of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
“The telethon is our signature fundraiser,” said Variety executive director Bernice Scholten in a media release. “Once a year we ask viewers to invite us into their living rooms to see first hand the impact their donations make and ask them to support children who have special needs. Variety is about families supporting families and there’s nothing more powerful than that.”
Last year the charity raised over $7 million during the event. Variety provided grants to 1,277 families and to 32 organizations offering specialized programs and services to children with special needs. As with every Variety fundraising campaign, all the money raised stays in BC communities and goes to pay for things like new hospital equipment in neonatal intensive care units, expensive life-saving medications, physical therapies, mobility and communication devices and bursaries to special schools.
Powell River Association for Community Living received money from the charity this year to help the organization purchase a new van.
Christine McPhee’s 10-year-old son Riley needed to go to Vancouver for a developmental behavioural condition assessment at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. McPhee, a single mom, approached Variety to help cover some of the costs of the four-day trip when she realized she did not have the money.
Variety helped pay for transportation, hotel and food expenses so Riley could get the help he needed.
“They booked the hotel, which was really nice,” said McPhee, adding that the room had a kitchen. “They gave us grocery cards, so that we could do a lot of our meals in the room and that made a big difference.”
She said that as a result of the trip Riley is doing better. “We connected with a really good sleep doctor and it’s making a big difference. Because he got the diagnosis he needed, it made it possible to move forward with other things.”
Viewers of the telethon can enjoy concert performances by artists known for their global work and philanthropic contributions.
The programming lineup this year includes performances by internationally renowned artists including Norah Jones, Adele, Mumford and Sons, dance troupe Cirque Du Soleil’s Journey of Man and MusiCares Foundation tributes to Barbra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen. More information about the entertainment lineup is available online. Donations can be made by calling toll free 604.310-KIDS (5437) or online.
