UPDATED: 43rd telethon raises $103,964 for Highland County Society for Children and Adults

With generous donations from individuals, organizations and businesses throughout Highland County and beyond, the 43rd annual Ernie Blankenship Radio-Telethon raised over $100,000 for the Highland County Society for Children and Adults Wednesday evening.

The 2015 pledge totals currently stand at $103,964, with $12,011 of the funds raised coming from the Greenfield telethon.

There were 264 donors in Hillsboro this year, compared to 297 in the 2014 telethon. Thirty donations were $500 or higher.

Rotarians and their businesses and employers were responsible for approximately $33,000 of the total donations.

The telethon is a joint effort of the Hillsboro and Greenfield Rotary Clubs to support the HCSCA, which provides a number of services to children and adults throughout the county. Services available through the organization include home nursing, speech clinic, medication, transportation, equipment rental, orthopedic devices, CPR equipment, scholarship funding, hospital tests, respiratory supplies and physical and occupational therapy.

Since 1973, the annual radio-telethon has raised over 3.35 million dollars.

In 2013, the event was named the Ernie Blankenship Radio-Telethon in honor of his long service as emcee and chairman of the Hillsboro Rotary Club committee.

Although the Blankenship family was unable to attend the event, they were there in spirit, as theirs was the first donation recorded Wednesday night in Hillsboro.

The Hillsboro telethon this year was held at NCB, where Blankenship was formerly employed. The event was hosted by emcees Rick Williams and Herb Day, who kept the banter flowing while encouraging the community to support the worthy cause.

“All the money stays local,” Williams said.

Both emcees joked with guests, showcased silent auction items and good-naturedly urged everyone to give as much as possible to the Society. Day joked that he agreed to cohost the event just so he could ring the bell, a tradition Blankenship and other hosts have done for many years whenever the telethon reaches a significant milestone or receives a large donation.

This year’s poster child, Jayah Chaney of Hillsboro, visited both the Hillsboro and Greenfield telethons with her mother, Linda Chaney, and older sisters Michaela, 19, and Kyah, 10. Jayah, 6, was born with a cleft palate and a bilateral cleft lip, which has caused many issues with her nose and teeth. Her 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 and surgery to reconstruct her upper jaw bone. Linda Chaney explained during the Wednesday telethon that surgeons will be taking a bone from her hip to reconstruct her jaw.

Much to Chaney’s excitement, she received a giant Easter basket from the Hillsboro Eagles and a brand-new pink and purple bike donated by Walmart before heading home for the evening.

Chaney wasn’t the only young one in front of the cameras Wednesday night. Hillsboro City Schools Superintendent Jim Smith introduced students from Hillsboro Elementary, the Hillsboro Middle School Student Council and the Hillsboro FFA, all of whom made donations to kick off the evening. Hillsboro High School and Middle School staff members also donated to the telethon.

Former poster child Emily Davis was also among the first individuals to make a donation at the Hillsboro telethon, as she visited with her grandfather – and telethon emcee – Day.

Celebrating her 9th birthday Wednesday night, the 2011 poster child requested donations be made to the society in lieu of gifts for her birthday party last weekend. Davis’ generous efforts raised over $200 for the telethon.

The emcees visited with many community leaders, including city, county and school officials. Civic organizations including men and women from VFW Post 9094, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Daughters of the American Revolution also contributed to the telethon.

Among the many businesses contributing to the telethon was NCB. The host bank presented a check for $5,000, along with providing their facility and the help of many employees who volunteered throughout the evening.

Other local banks including Fifth Third Bank, First State Bank, Merchants National Bank, Peoples Bank and US Bank also made significant donations Wednesday night.

There was also an auction of various sports memorabilia. Items auctioned off for the telethon included an Urban Meyer autographed football; a baseball bat and baseball autographed by Todd Frazier; and a Ken Griffey Sr. autographed baseball.

The Highland County YMCA also donated a family membership, valued at up to $600, to be auctioned off.

Among the top donors were the Cassner Foundation, as Richard Van Zant presented a check for $15,000 on behalf of the foundation.

“The Cassner Foundation continues to give and give and give,” Williams said.

Merchants National Bank pledged $9,000 from the bank and its employees. The telethon also received an anonymous donation of $10,000. 

The Greenfield telethon also received a late pledge of $3,550, raising the total to $103,964 after the telethon closed Wednesday evening at $100,414. 

The emcees closed out the night by thanking the Rotary Clubs for their efforts and having members in attendance introduce themselves, followed by closing comments by Judge Rocky Coss.

Coss thanked emcees Rick Williams and Herb Day; Terry Mikkelsen of Tech-T Productions; Buckeye Country; Dale Zornes, Time Warner Cable; Mike Rector; the Rotarians; event sponsors; and “all those who contributed” to this year’s telethon.

“Thank you to NCB, Deb Jones and her staff for hosting,” Coss said. “They did a fine job.”

Event sponsors included Aramark; Big Ernie’s Pizza; Blossoms ’n Buds; Chad Abbott Signs LLC; Clear Channel; Cundiff’s Flowers; Great Scot; Hillsboro Cable TV; Hillsboro Dairy Queen; KFC/Bagshaw Enterprises; Kroger; Larry’s Party Shop; Mac Printing Company; Terry Mikkelsen; Pasquale’s Pizza; Pepsi Cola; Pizza Hut; Ponderosa/Holtfield Station; Rick’s Appliance Center; Single Office Stop; Subway (Elmores’); Time Warner Cable; Twenty-Four Exchange Deli; Wal-Mart Deli; and WVNU.

Judge Rocky Coss said that contributions will still be accepted for those who would like to donate to the telethon. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 258, Hillsboro, or dropped off at local banks.

Coss added that the 2016 telethon will be held Wednesday, March 30 at Merchants National Bank.

Coss concluded the event by recognizing Blankenship’s widow Rita, another longtime volunteer and supporter of the telethon who is currently undergoing some health problems.

“We want to mention that we are keeping Rita Blankenship and her family in our thoughts and prayers,” Coss said.