By CHRIS MENEES
Staff Reporter
Children stepped up to help other children Monday night.
The first night of Chimes for Charity’s annual fundraising telethon featured an evening of entertainment entirely presented by youngsters of all ages.
For 90 minutes, listeners and viewers were delighted by Christmas tunes performed by Pleasant Valley Preschool students, the Obion County Children’s Chorus and Exchange Street Church of Christ’s children’s group.
The telethon ended its first night with an official total of $5,890.
Chimes kicked off its annual radio/TV telethon Monday night at Second Baptist Church on Everett Boulevard in Union City and the event will continue through Thursday night. The program is staged from 6-7:30 nightly.
Chimes for Charity — sponsored by the Union City Jaycees and J’Cettes and supported by community contributions — is in its 78th year of providing food, clothing and toys to less fortunate families around Obion County at Christmas.
The telethon opened Monday night with Chimes having already received $5,800 in donations before the telethon’s start and the first night actually raising $4,440. However, the amount donated prior to the telethon has been divided by four — the number of nights of the telethon — and one-fourth is being added to each night’s total donations. This allows for previous donations to be included and for those donors’ names to be read during the telethon, Chimes secretary Regina Hendon explained.
A large donation was also received Monday from Walmart employees and it apparently will be added into tonight’s total.
Chimes’ goal this year is $55,000, an increase of $5,000 over last year’s goal.
The telethon provides a major boost each year for Chimes, which helps those in need through shopping tours to provide new clothing and toys for children and a Christmas Eve food basket delivery which will benefit 350 families and individuals.
The 90-minute telethon programs feature local entertainment each evening and are being broadcast on AM radio station WENK-1240 and local television channel WOBT. Listeners and viewers will be asked to phone in pledges to benefit Chimes, with many contributions often made in honor of entertainers or in memory of loved ones.
This week’s telethon is being emceed by Jim Adcock, 1977 Jaycees president.
On tonight’s program, Adcock will welcome guests Vencent Bell, CPO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Tennessee; and past Jaycees members Robin Wood and his father, Robert Wood, also a past Chimes chairman, and Steve Goodrich. The Rev. Melvin Poe, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Union City, will lead in prayer.
Tonight’s entertainment will be presented by Calvary Baptist Church’s Singing Hands group from 6-6:30, followed by First Friends Preschool from 6:30-7 and Immaculate Conception Preschool from 7-7:30.
Wednesday night, Adcock’s guests will include Chimes co-chairmen Justin Stokes and Nell Garrigan and 1982 Jaycees president Larry Storie. The invocation will be given by the Rev. Stan Waldon, pastor of Union City First United Methodist Church.
Entertainment Wednesday night will be provided by Second Baptist Church’s preschool choir from 6-6:30 and the host church’s K-5 choir from 6:30-7, with Fulton Independent Schools’ choir to round out the program from 7-7:30.
For more information, call the Chimes office at 885-2098 or email chimesforcharity@yahoo.com.
Donations should be mailed to Chimes for Charity, P.O. Box 661, Union City, TN 38281.
Staff Reporter Chris Menees may be contacted by email at cmenees@ucmessenger.com.

Published in The Messenger 12.4.12