Press release: November 26, 2024
“Completely overwhelmed”
By Jackie Jardine
Christmas Fund telethon sets record
It was a record-breaking day for volunteers with the Pictou County Christmas Fud telethon: Sunday’s event succeeded in raising more than $106,500.
“Wow, we are completely overwhelmed,” beamed Monique Sobey, chair of the Pictou Couty Christmas Fund telethon, in making the announcement of the final total at the show’s end on Sunday evening.
Visibly emotional, Sobey added, “That’s the most amount ever raised in the organization’s 50-year history. It’s incredible, I just can’t believe it. I couldn’t even read the number. I was completely overwhelmed and could barely get it out of my mouth.”
Sobey has been on the PCCF board for 18 years and has been chair for the past several. She said the board is small but works very well together and runs like a well-oiled machine. Everyone on the board has their role and knows how to execute it efficiently.
This year was extra special for them since it marked 50 years of raising funds for families in need in Pictou County. It was also extra special since it celebrated a return to the deCoste Centre after an absence of several years due to Covid.
Throughout the day, people dropped in to the Pictou facility to make pledges and to sit once again in the audience to enjoy some local entertainment generously offered by local residents in both live and virtual performances. Among the performers were Jon Raven, Maya MacGillivray, Ashley George, Dave Gunning and Ann Holton with virtual offerings from Sentimental Journey, the Carillon Singers, Summer Street Signers and George Canyon. The music was interspersed with pre-taped testimonials from board members and volunteers involved with the event from over the past 50 years who offered congratulations and shared memories.
“The generous spirit of the people of Pictou County really came through, once again. The large pledges, the small pledges – it all added up to an incredible amount and we couldn’t be prouder of the board, of the help from Eastlink Community TV and the deCoste, and of the community at large.”
Businesses large and small, and residents from across the country supported the telethon this year with pledges that came in either online, in-person or over the telephone. Adding to the excitement and certainly adding to the bottom line for the telethon was the generosity of Jim Shaw and family who operates the local Tim Hortons franchise. This year, the Pictou County Christmas Fund was the beneficiary of proceeds from the operation’s Holiday Smile Cookie campaign which, every year, is given to a local non-profit group. This year’s event generated approximately $14,000.
That amount of money will be needed this year more than ever, noted fellow board member Jacquie Sobey who looks after registration for the volunteer board.
“We have more than 1,000 families registered for assistance this year,” she said. “That’s close to one in four families in Pictou County.”
The funds generated in Sunday’s telethon are the most ever raised in the group’s 50-year history. “We have a record number of families registered and a record number of donations,” she added.
“The need is great. You can tell we have a tight-knit community that has the ability to recognize the need around them and went out of their way to help their neighbours this year.”
Warden Robert Parker, in presenting a $1,000 cheque from the Municipality of Pictou County, said, “It takes a little more to feed the same amount of people.”
The annual telethon is a long-standing holiday tradition in Pictou County that was started 50 years ago to raise funds to provide a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings to local families in need.
This year also marked the return of registering for assistance from the Fund. This can be done online by visiting pictoucountychristmasfund.ca or by filling out a paper form which is available at all Pictou County library locations. Deadline to register for assistance – whether online or by application form – is November 29.
Pledges can be honoured at the office of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pictou County on MacGregor Street in New Glasgow, Atlantic Insurance on Provost Street in New Glasgow, as well as at any bank in Pictou County or the Credit Union in New Glasgow.
Distribution for those who have registered for assistance will take pace December 17 and 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. each day at Pictou County Food Bank East, 410 Granville Street, New Glasgow. Those who have registered will be required to provide ID / health cards including cards for all registered family members.
The board chair was thrilled with the outcome of the day. “On behalf of the Pictou County Christmas Fund, I’d just like to thank Eastlink Community TV, the deCoste Centre, Tim Hortons Holiday Cookie Campaign, Lucas Technology & Analytics, 94.1 The Breeze, Q97.9, everyone in the community and beyond who donated or pledged, all of the entertainers both live and virtual and all of the volunteers who helped make this years telethon a huge success!”
