Circles of Hope Telethon Sunday to Benefit Local Carl Perkins Center
WEAKLEY COUNTY (August 16) - The Carl Perkins Center’s 37th Annual Circles of Hope Telethon is set for Sunday, August 16, from 1-5 p.m. It can be viewed on WBBJ 7 or heard on NewsTalk 93.1. The telethon is held every year to raise money for the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Centers for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
The money is needed to help the exchange club to continue operations, especially with COVID-19 causing many fundraisers for this year to be postponed. These postponed events average $566,500 in funds lost for area Carl Perkins Centers. The exchange club has 20 centers across West Tennessee with the closest being in Martin. It costs $450,000 a month for the exchange club to operate across all 20 counties.
The Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse opened in 1981.
The telethon will feature performances by Neon Casino Club, Timber Maniacs, Reverend Jessie and Friends and Paula Bridges and Friends.
The Circles of Hope Telethon this year will not feature any check presentations during the event, which means the total number of funds raised for the Weakley/Obion Counties Carl Perkins Center will not be known until after Sunday's event.
Anyone can donate towards the telethon now to benefit the local exchange club. Donations can be made as a one time allotment or as a monthly recurrence. Information can be found on the Carl Perkins Center website or at the Weakley/Obion County Carl Perkins Center’s Facebook page.
Locally, people in the the two counties can call in during Sunday's telethon to donate money and ask for their money to be given directly to the Weakley/Obion Counties Carl Perkins Center.
Director of the Weakley/Obion County Carl Perkins Center Amber Whitten said recently the golf tournament brought $5,000 for the center. Whitten added the Martin location helped 1,200 individuals in the past year and money donated goes to help those individuals and families who deal with incidents of child abuse.
