Now in its 15th year, Housing Assistance Corporation’s (HAC) annual holiday telethon is being reinvigorated with a new name and a satellite location to increase engagement with local audiences.
The Telethon for Hope will take place on Thursday, December 13, 5:30 to 8 pm, at Cape Cod Community Media Center in Dennis Port. Previously known as the Shelter Cape Cod Telethon, this year’s event will raise funds and awareness for all of HAC’s housing programs on Cape Cod and the Islands, including its four family shelters, its homeless outreach efforts, its homelessness prevention program, its energy programs for low-income households, and its Housing Consumer Education Center (HCEC) which conducts financial literacy classes for residents throughout the region.
At the same time the telethon is taking place, Cape Cod Beer will be hosting a Give-A-Thon & Viewing Party. Guests will be able to watch a live Facebook stream of the telethon on the Hyannis brewery’s big screen and are encouraged to participate by sharing, commenting and donating on social media.
“We’re excited about incorporating a satellite location that will allow people to watch the telethon and engage in and contribute towards our mission to help those in need during the holiday season,” said HAC Chief Development Officer Anne Van Vleck.
Beth Marcus, co-owner of Cape Cod Beer agreed, saying that she was looking forward to “being a part of the reimagination of the telethon as a social event. It’s unlike anything that we’ve ever seen on Cape Cod before. It encourages the entire community to understand, participate, and share in HAC’s vision for stable housing on Cape Cod.”
Over the course of the two-and-a-half hour telethon, audiences will hear from HAC staff, including CEO Alisa Magnotta Galazzi; Director of Family and Individuals Services Cassi Danzl; Melinda Caron, facility director at the Carriage House shelter in North Falmouth; and Assistant Director of Housing Development David Quinn, who co-authored the agency’s recent report, “Housing on Cape Cod: The High Cost of Doing Nothing.” Special guests will include Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross, students from the Nathaniel H. Wixon School in South Dennis, musicians Kim Moberg and Chris Mack, and several HAC clients who have benefitted from the agency’s programs.
Those interested in serving as phone fundraisers for this year’s telethon should visit www.telethonforhope.org.