Heartbreaking. Eye-opening. Inspiring. These are the words I would use to describe the WESH 2 News Primetime Special, which aired on Wednesday, December 16th. The special focused on celebrating 35 years Share Your Christmas, a campaign put on by WESH 2 News to support our neighbors in need.
Jim Payne and Meredith McDonough joined the Second Harvest team to broadcast live from our warehouse during what was an hour of TV that I will never forget. The special showcased the incredible work our community has done for the past 35 years to help those who are struggling with food insecurity. The most moving story of them all was a look back, just one week before, at the tremendous need in our community caused by the pandemic. Stuart Moore reported live from food distributions throughout Central Florida as a part of Share Your Christmas and had the opportunity to hear first-hand the struggles that Central Floridians are facing. He shared those conversations in a story that brought me to tears. It is heart-wrenching to see so many people in our community who are struggling. (You can see this story at the 31-minute mark in the primetime special.)
The newscast ended with a glimmer of hope. Hope that our community is here for one another. Throughout the primetime special the team from WESH encouraged viewers to call in or go online to make a donation. Share Your Christmas had raised over $750,000 prior to the special and the WESH team set an ambitious goal of getting to $1 Million. I am so grateful for the team at Wells Fargo for stepping up and pledging to match donations dollar for dollar up to $35,000 in honor of 35 years of Share Your Christmas. They challenged other businesses to step up and, sure enough, one did. The United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1625 union provided another $25,000 in matching funds. Viewers and friends from throughout the community called our phone bank and went online to pledge their support. That evening we reached $950,000 and by 3pm the next day we had surpassed the goal, raising $1,012,620. These funds will help to provide over 4 million meals for families, children and seniors in need.
Thank you so much to everyone who made a donation during Share Your Christmas. A huge thank you to Wells Fargo and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1625 union for matching donations that evening. While this wasn’t a typical year for Share Your Christmas, it certainly makes a world of difference for those who aren’t sure when they will eat again. You are providing them more than food. You are also providing a sense of HOPE that everything will eventually be ok.
Click here to watch the full WESH 2 News Primetime Special.
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