Champ’s Heart Telethon surpasses $72,000
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - UPDATE: On Tuesday, you likely saw Jay Hildebrandt and Karole Honas returned to Local News 8 studio to host a telethon for Champ's Heart.
The group is dedicated to providing experiences with horses for children and their family members facing life challenges such as cancer.
The telethon goal was to raise $20,000.
As of Tuesday night, the total has skyrocket passed that to $52,000, and that amount is being combined with another $20,000 match making it $72,000.
It is a true example of just how charitable this community can be.
You can rewatch the telethon below.
ORIGINAL: Jay Hildebrandt and Karole Honas retired from anchoring the news, but they have been busy with a new passion.
Champ's Heart is a group of volunteers that provide horse encounters for special needs kids, and Tuesday night, we got the chance to share a piece of our hearts with them. You can watch the telethon below.
"Karole and I will be hosting this telethon with several reports about these kids who have just seen their lives changed dramatically for the better by having these encounters with horses," Hildebrandt said. "These kids have so many challenges and disabilities in their lives, and just having this one hour horse encounter riding the horses or petting the horses or brushing the horses just brightens their spirit it changes their lives dramatically in some cases almost miraculously.
"I just haven't seen it with my own eyes, these kids just light up. They love being on the horses. They love the rhythm of walking with the horse. They love being the same height as everybody else like their siblings get to ride with them. The whole family is to have this one hour of pure fun," Honas said.
This won't be like your old school telethon where you call in.
You can donate through Venmo, text, online or even write out a good old fashioned check and send it in.
"We have an indoor arena. We have three pastures. We have room to grow. We have room to accept more children, but we got to pay a mortgage," Honas said. "So I'm hoping that people will be as touched by the program as you and I have been Jay and then will want to contribute."
"You know right now, there are 80 children that are being served by this with 170 volunteers 100 kids on the waiting list, and it's all free," Hildebrandt said. "And that's one of the reasons why these donations are so important for these kids."
