This past Sunday was the annual American Red Cross of Monroe County Telethon which ran from 12pm to 9pm on Blue Ridge Cable Channel 13.  I’m ashamed to say but this is the first year I actually saw it aired and hope that we can spread the word so the viewers and donations can improve each year.  The telethon raised over $57,000 all of which goes to the Monroe County Red Cross to help local fire victims.  There were local fire victims that told their stories during the telethon and local singers, dancers, magicians and other talent filled out the rest of the day.  Connie Roberts, Mario Scavello and Kim Bell were just a few of the MCs for the day that joined together to help the cause.

Eric and I actually got a chance to participate this year as we recently redesigned the Monroe County Red Cross website: http://www.redcrossmonroepa.org this past year as part of their building makeover.   So we were there for the telethon handling the online auctions which included the following:

Autographed Eagles Football
A piece of Eagles Memorabilia. It is an Eagles limited edition football autographed by: QB Donovan McNabb #5, K David Akers #2, and FS Brian Dawkins #20. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed Eagles Helmet
An authentic on field, Riddell, NFL pro line helmet. It is autographed by Brian Westbrook. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed NFL Football
An authentic NFL game ball signed by, 2006 Hall of Fame, Harry Carson. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed Penn State Football
A Penn State football autographed by the Penn State Coach, Joe Paterno.

Will Daskal Painting
WillDaskal.com
Will Daskal Fine Art
RR7 Box 1258
Saylorsburg, PA 18353-9344
1-610-381-6188

Open cockpit by-plane Ride
An open cockpit by-plane ride provided by Fred Duckloe. Must be used on a Sunday Morning.

Helicopter Ride
Dave Moyer 570-656-4172
30 minute helicopter ride for 3 people out of Mount Pocono Airport. Sight Seeing Tour of Monroe County.

5-10 Page Website
5-10 page business or personal website. Includes 1 year FREE hosting(initially 3 months) & 1 year domain name registration. WebLeaps - www.WebLeaps.com - 570-629-6980

The auctions were available to bid on during the day and then went to bidding by telephone only after 8pm.  I think some of the items were a STEAL for the prices bid on them.  I would definitely keep my eye out next year as many items went for less then what they would fetch on ebay and would make great gifts if nothing else.

The Monroe County Red Cross has their next big fundraiser coming on May 4th, 2008 - the Pocono Mountains Run for the Red Marathon.

The Pocono Mountains Run for the Red is an annual marathon and 5k road race in which the profits are given to the American Red Cross of Monroe County to be used 100% towards disaster relief in Monroe County.

This is the third year running(pun intended) and the race will fall on May 4th, 2008.  If you are a runner the race is an official Boston Marathon qualifer.  If you’re not a runner but would still like to help they are always looking to volunteers to help out not only on race day but throughout the year as well. 

If you are visiting the Poconos that weekend or even if you just live in the area you should really take note as to what roads the course runs on.  It covers a large area that can be seen on this map: http://www.poconomarathon.org/coursemap.html  From what I remember of last years race the roads they use are completely CLOSED so you will want to find alternate routes in advance - especially if you know you have somewhere to go so be sure to add a detour to your travel time.

The event overall is great for both the runners and the community as well, so keep your eye out on the 4th if you’re not a runner to see a great cause at work.   http://www.poconomarathon.org