Pictou County telethon receives highest amount yet on 50th anniversary
Annual telethon spreads holiday cheer and has become a staple in the community.
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It’s the grandest total the Pictou County Christmas Fund has raised in their 50 years of doing a telethon.
Monique Sobey said she couldn’t even get the words out when it was time to announce the final amount of donations and pledges: over $106,000.
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“It was quite the number to announce at the end of the show. I could barely get the words out,” said the volunteer board chair.
The Pictou County Christmas Fund is a volunteer effort to help provide meals for families at Christmas.
The organization recently hosted its annual telethon on Nov. 24 at the DeCoste Centre with around 30 in-person and virtual performances taking viewers through the afternoon and into the evening.
Many moments made the 50th anniversary of the telethon a memorable one: a record-breaking total, a return to in-person performances, and a generous donation from a local Tim Hortons.
Total funds will be distributed in the form of grocery store gift cards from the Pictou County Food Bank East in Stellarton. The money will be dispersed on Dec. 17 and 19.
The event is a holiday tradition in the community.
“For me — my husband and I were talking about this the other day — it kind of starts the season off for us,” said Sobey. “It’s just a great way to kick off our own family Christmas season.”
Helping neighbours
The Pictou County Christmas Fund began as a radio program with a similar goal as the telethon today.
“They just started this to try to raise funds in Pictou County,” said Sobey, “to help people in need in the community to help them buy Christmas dinner.”
It later transitioned into a live telethon, keeping a small in-house call centre to accept donations and pledges.
Donations are also accepted online, which Sobey said they receive from many locations.
“We have people donating from, you know, Halifax, Calgary, Florida for example, so it’s wonderful.”
This year, a large donation of over $14,000 came from the local Tim Hortons’ holiday smile cookie campaign, which was a highlight for Sobey.
Half of the money raised goes to Tim Hortons camps while the other half is donated to a charity of their choice.
“The local Tim Horton’s chose the Pictou County Christmas Fund this year to be the recipient of those funds,” said Sobey. “It was incredibly generous and moving, and will go a long way to help very many people in our community.”
The chair also added that it is common for the organization to receive more money than what was donated and pledged on the show.
Musical performances
The telethon often highlights a lot of local musical talent from the area.
For example, this year and in years past country music singer George Canyon, who is originally from Fox Brook, made a virtual appearance during the telethon.
Brian and Brenda Bowen have sung in many of the Pictou County Christmas Fund’s telethons over the years, including at the recent show.
“It’s been something that’s been near and dear to our hearts, you know, to be able to participate in this way, to do our contribution to the Christmas fund,” said Brian, “and to help out the various families that are in need.”
Brian has also participated in the telethon with the Stellarton Male Chorus, and his brother, Ed Bowden, used to be an emcee for the telethon.
Sobey believes the generosity of county residents is why the program has continued for 50 years.
“Pictou County is a very generous community. We know the need is out there year after year, and we’ve got lots of people who are willing to help their neighbours when they’re in need,” she said.
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