This year’s 54th annual Santa’s Helpers Telethon is a testament to CHCO-TV’s profound impact on its community. The five-hour broadcast raised nearly $44,000, providing essential support to families in one of Canada’s most economically challenged regions. Every dollar contributed will go toward holiday gifts for children and Christmas meals for families across Charlotte County, where the need has grown due to rising living costs.
The event was a monumental effort, with CHCO-TV spending two weeks recording school choir performances at six rural schools: St. Stephen Elementary, Milltown Elementary, Campobello Consolidated, Lawrence Station School, Vincent Massey Elementary in St. Andrews, and Blacks Harbour School. Nearly 1,000 children participated, their voices filling homes with holiday cheer and reinforcing the strength and spirit of the community.
On the day of the telethon, local leaders—including Mayors Allan MacEachern, Brad Henderson, John Craig, and MLA Kathy Bockus—joined the broadcast to read pledges and encourage donations. Their presence underscored the collaborative effort required to drive meaningful change.
CHCO-TV’s role extends far beyond producing and airing events; it serves as a vital platform for community-building, fostering dialogue, and addressing pressing social and economic challenges. By engaging local volunteers, leaders, and businesses, the station raised funds and inspired a sense of unity and shared purpose.
More than just a fundraiser, the telethon exemplified the power of civic journalism. It shed light on Charlotte County’s ongoing struggles—such as poverty and the increasing demand for community support—while offering a tangible solution through collective action. In a region where access to resources is often limited, CHCO-TV continues to be an indispensable force, connecting, informing, and mobilizing the community for the greater good.
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A propos l’IJL
LJI Impact is the section of commediaportal.ca where the journalists and their organizations participating in CACTUS' Local Journalism Initiative can share their greatest successes.
Through the written stories, photos and videos you see in the LJI Impact section, you'll be able to read first hand accounts about how the presence of a community journalist is making a difference in communities across Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative and the Community Media Portal.
The Community Media Portal is a gateway to the audio-visual media created by community media centres across Canada. These include traditional community TV and radio stations, as well as online and new media production centres.
Community media are not-for-profit production hubs owned and operated by the communities they serve, established both to provide local content and reflection for their communities, as well as media training and access for ordinary citizens to the latest tools of media production, whether traditional TV and radio, social and online media, virtual reality, augmented reality or video games.
The Community Media Portal has been funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (the LJI) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) in association with the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Fédération). Under the LJI, over 100 journalists have been placed in underserved communities and asked to produce civic content that underpins Canadian democratic life.
