Jayah Chaney named 2015 poster child for HCSCA Ernie Blankenship Telethon

Bright Elementary student Jayah Chaney will be honored as the poster child for the 2015 Ernie Blankenship Radio-Telethon for the Highland County Society for Children and Adults.

This is the 43rd telethon and the third one since being renamed in honor of longtime telethon emcee Blankenship, Society for Children and Adults Director Gayle Coss said. The 2015 telethon is set for Wednesday, March 25 from 7-9 p.m.

Jayah Chaney, 6, was adopted from China by parents Chuck and Linda Chaney when she was 2 years old. She has two older sisters, Michaela, 19, and Kyah, 10. Kyah was also adopted from China.

"We wanted to make our family larger," Linda Chaney said. "We have a daughter who's 19 who at age 3 began praying for a sister. When she turned 10, she got her sister."

Chaney said that they used the same adoption agency as popular contemporary Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman, who along with his wife has adopted three daughters from China.

"We knew there were many girls in orphanages who need a home," Chaney said. "We knew they didn't want girls at all in China."

Chaney, who teaches special education for kindergarten through third grade students at Bright Elementary, said that she and her husband later decided to adopt a special needs child because of the way they are treated.

"Children with special needs in China are treated even worse than girls," Chaney said.

Jayah was born with a cleft palate and a bilateral cleft lip, which has caused many issues with her nose and teeth. Chuck Chaney said that Jayah's front lip and nose have been reconstructed, and doctors repaired a hole in the roof of her mouth that caused difficulty eating.

The next step for Jayah will be dental work, as cleft palates cause teeth to grow improperly, according to kidshealth.org.

"She complains about her teeth hurting," Linda Chaney said. "We would have to pay out of pocket, so we're glad the society will help pay for her dental bills."

Chuck Chaney said that Jayah will have to undergo surgery to reconstruct her upper jaw bone. Surgeons will take a bone from her hip to reconstruct her jaw, but Chaney said that they have to wait until she's at least 8 to perform the surgery.

Despite the many procedures she's endured, Jayah is a typical kindergartener who loves pizza, nature and animals. Jayah said she has five puppies at home, along with adult dogs, hedgehogs and birds, and she loves being in the barn when her older sisters raise show animals.

The Chaneys encouraged the community to donate to the telethon and to check out the society and all it offers.

"You never know when you'll be in a situation when you need extra help," Linda Chaney said. "This is a great society that helps not only children, but adults as well."

This year's telethon will be held at the Hillsboro NCB bank at 139 South High Street and at the McClain High School studio. Rotarian Rick Williams will serve as the event's emcee in Hillsboro.

"He did such a good job last year," Coss said. "He knows everyone in the community and has a great personality."

Among the special auction items offered this year are an Urban Meyer autographed football and a Todd Frazier autographed baseball, according to Coss.

"Last year, we raised $143,000," Coss said. "Of that, $10,500 came from Greenfield.

"Since our economy went south, we hate to make any goals, but we hope to raise at least that much."

Though Coss pointed out that the economy has hurt Highland County, the society has continued to raise over $100,000 each year since 1997.

Through the community's generosity, the society has helped 4,000 people since 2010, Coss said.

"I'm getting almost a thousand phone calls every month, including calls for services we don't help with," Coss said.

Coss said that the society devotes as much money as possible to helping adults and children in the community.

"The society doesn't have an office," Coss said. "I work from home to keep overhead low. Our overhead is less than eight percent, which is unheard of in the business world."

Coss can be reached Monday through Friday, from 9-4 p.m., at (937) 393-2142.

The community is encouraged to attend the telethons in person at either location or listen live to WVNU 97.5 FM or WCHO 105.5 FM.

Pledges may be mailed to: HCSCA, P.O. Box 258, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133.

"I grew up out west," Coss said. "Midwest living is really different. It's about God, family and home, and everybody takes care of everyone else. You really don't realize it unless you've moved away for a while or grew up somewhere else."