CBS4 RTV4 WHBF Quad Cities, IL / IA News Weather Sports2006 Variety Telethon is a Big Success
The 2006 telethon to benefit Variety: The Children's Charity of the Quad Cities was broadcast on WHBF-TV on Sunday, March 5th. While the goal of raising money for local agencies serving children remained the same, the telethon was again different in many ways.
The statewide portion of the telethon began at 10:30pm on Saturday night and continued until 10am on Sunday. At 10am, Channel 4 Eyewitness News anchors John Smith and Tambrey Laine hosted a local hour-long special from the River Music Experience, highlighting the work of Variety: The Children's Charity on a local level.
Then, in a departure from past years, WHBF-TV aired tripleheader basketball on CBS, using the local station breaks during the games to continue to fundraising work on behalf of Variety. Tambrey Laine hosted a number of cut-ins from Scott County YMCA.
At 5, John Smith and Tambrey Laine were back live at the River Music Experience with a recap of the days events and more about the local efforts of the charity. With the help of Channel 4 Eyewitness News reporters, various agencies that received financial support from Variety in 2005 were profiled. Those agencies included including the Boys & Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley, the Scott County YMCA, Genesis Health System, the YWCA of the Quad Cities, the Hope Haven Respite Center in Burlington, Iowa, Young House Family Services in Keokuk, Iowa, the Christian Friendliness Center, and the speech therapy center at Western Illinois University.
Also featured were check presentations from various area businesses including HyVee, Wells Fargo, Heart of America Restaurants, ALCOA, Genesis Health System and many others.
In the end, the 2006 telethon raised more than $130,000 for local agencies serving the needs of children, part of the $3.6 million raised statewide.
