Friendship House holds region's first Autism Telethon with great success
The region's first Autism Telethon airing live on WBRE -TV Saturday, April 18, brought in $152,382 to benefit the Northeast Regional Autism Center at Friendship House, with more donations still coming in. Viewers were invited to visit www.FriendshipHousePA.org to continue to make their donations after the telethon.
"I'm excited that even with the way the economy is, a person still found it important to donate to the cause," said Debbie Dudley, assistant director of development for Friendship House, who spearheaded the eight-hour telethon.
She's also excited that more people have now heard of the organization and may seek out its services. People also can make donations online at www.friendshiphousepa.org or call 342-8305, ext. 2039.
"I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who helped make this event a huge success" Debbie added.
"We're overwhelmed with the wonderful support we received during this telethon," said Robert H. Angeloni. "On behalf of the staff of Friendship House, the board of directors and all the children we serve, we express heartfelt thanks to Scranton High School, the generous people of our community, the business sponsors, charitable organizations, civic groups and the hundreds of volunteers who made this happen, and not least, the families and friends of children diagnosed with autism".
Construction has begun on a $1.6 million state-of-the-art autism center in its building at 1509 Maple St. Telethon funds will be used for new program development, community outreach services, therapy materials, underwriting family Respite Care, and for the purchase of assistive communication technology to "give a voice" to children with autism who are non-verbal.
"There needs to be more awareness ... people need to be aware because these are the kids of our future," said parent Patti Duguay of Waverly, whose son, Douglas, was diagnosed at age 3. All involved agreed that the telethon was a great success.
Some more photos from the event...
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