Phone Volunteers Needed for NOAH Telethon

As the winter season approaches and the economic recovery staggers, the NOAH shelter will continue to be a safe haven for many neighbors in need. Housing Assistance Corporation is committed to making sure that beds are available, warmth is provided and every client gets a meal. But we need your help to do it.

The eighth annual NOAH Telethon will be shown Cape-wide live 4-9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 14, on local cable-access channels. We’re looking for about 200 volunteers to staff a phone for 30 minutes that night. Volunteering for the telethon is a fun way to raise money for a great cause. Family members and friends can watch at home on TV as volunteers, elected officials and celebrities answer the phones and take pledges.

A special way to help is to be a telethon PAL (or Phone Attendant Liaison) is a volunteer who sets a goal of raising $540 – enough to provide one day of client services ($45), once a month for a year ($45 x 12 = $540). PALs help to raise these funds by reaching out before the telethon to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and other individuals or organizations. On telethon night, PALs bring a list of these people to call for a donation.

HAC’s volunteer coordinator, Mary Everett-Patriquin, created a tool kit to help PALs meet their goal. It has lots of fundraising strategies, ideas on how to prepare yourself to make a good pitch and suggestions for ways to publicize your fundraising efforts. She can help you brainstorm a list of individuals and groups to ask for donations and give you some ideas to put the “fun” into “fundraiser.”

Last year’s telethon raised over $73,000. Due to the challenging economy, NOAH’s need is greater than ever. Each year on Cape Cod, the NOAH shelter serves more than 500 individuals.

Please consider becoming a PAL. Even if you don’t make it all the way to your fundraising goal, your efforts will make a true difference to those in need in our community. To sign up or learn more, contact Mary Everett-Patriquin at volunteer@haconcapecod.org  or 508-771-5400, ext. 279. For more information on the telethon, visit www.noahtelethon.org.

The telethon will be held at a new location this year, as the Cape Cod Community Media Center has moved to 17 Shad Hole Road (just off Route 28) in Dennisport. Mindy Todd of NPR station WCAI will return as celebrity co-host, and DJ Suzanne Tonaire of WGTX is lining up local musicians to provide entertainment during the telethon. NOAH clients will tell their stories during the telethon, and many local officials will appear as special guests.