 Last night, Thursday, September 1, KSDK NewsChannel 5, in partnership with the St. Louis Chapter of the American Red Cross and in cooperation with KETC and KEZK presented a one-hour primetime special, Hurricane Katrina: St. Louis Responds. This special telethon helped to raise money for relief efforts from Hurricane Katrina. St. Louisans were asked for donations and they did respond. Opening their pocketbooks as viewers, area businesses, and civic leaders, they joined together in raising $5,170,000 dollars!
"St. Louisans came through in a crisis situation, just as they always do," said Lynn Beall, president and general manager of KSDK. "We took advantage of three phone banks, our Volunteer 5 phones in the studio, a phone bank staffed by Southwestern Bell volunteers at the SBC offices, and a third phone bank at Red Cross headquarters - and the phones simply rang non-stop. What a credit to the St. Louis community to raise this kind of money in one evening. We’re privileged to help the American Red Cross, and we are so thankful to our viewers, civic leaders, and our business community who really came through in a critical time of need.”
“The people of St. Louis have always opened their hearts and their wallets to those left victim by natural disasters,” said Louis T. Maull IV, chairman of the board of directors of the St. Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. “But my colleagues and I were simply stunned at the level of generosity displayed at last night’s telethon. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the greater St. Louis community. And we want to emphasize that 100 percent of their donations will pay for critical supplies like clean water, shelter, food and clothing.”
Hurricane Katrina: St. Louis Responds, was hosted by NewsChannel 5’s Karen Foss, Deanne Lane, and Rene Knott. The program was simulcast by KETC, St. Louis’ PBS affiliate; streamed live on ksdk.com; and broadcast by FM station KEZK, a member of the St. Louis Infinity Radio Group.
“We here at Channel 9 were glad to donate our airtime and assistance to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina,” said KETC president and CEO James Baum. “Our hearts go out to everyone involved in trying to recover from this terrible disaster. We are proud to be part of the St. Louis community’s generous outpouring of support to help our neighbors caught in the hurricane’s path.”
“When we saw what was happening to the people affected by Hurricane Katrina, all of us at KEZK knew we had to do something to help,” said Beth Davis, vice president and general manager of KEZK/KYKY. “Working with NewsChannel 5 and the American Red Cross, we were able to raise a truly astonishing amount of money. We’re humbled by the response by our listeners and glad that their contributions will help the Red Cross provide shelter, food, and comfort to the hurricane victims.”
NewsChannel 5 opened the phone banks at 5 p.m. and volunteers remained on-air and on-line until after midnight. Besides the one-hour special, updates on the telethon’s progress continued throughout newscasts and other station programming. Phone and web pledges accounted for more than $800,000.00 dollars of the $5 million dollar total. The one-hour special, Hurricane Katrina: St. Louis Responds, began with the unbelievable challenge grant from the Danforth Foundation of $2 million dollars. Other key contributors to the telethon’s success included a $750,000 pledge from Monsanto; another$750,000 check from Anheuser Busch; $250,000 from Emerson Electric; and a $100,000 donation from A.G. Edwards.
Actor John Goodman, a native St. Louisan, who also has a home in New Orleans also participated in the telethon, as did singer Sheryl Crow and Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Musician and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport also contributed.
The American Red Cross continues to raise money for the hurricane effort, the largest mobilization ever by the organization. Donations can be made by calling our local St. Louis chapter at 1-800-984-8979, or by going to ksdk.com.
NewsChannel 5 (KSDK-TV) is a part of Gannett Co., Inc., a leading international news and information company that publishes 102 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns more than 800 non-daily publications in the USA, and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company.
Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.
Newschannel 5 Contact: Jeff Winget (314) 444-5224
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