Local business supports 'Hope for Haiti' event

The "Hope for Haiti" fundraising event has gotten a big boost.

Margie Ross, the director of the Sayre Theatre, reported on Monday that a pledge of $5,000 from Tioga Downs Casino was received for the event. Tioga Downs will present it on Wednesday.

"I think it's just fantastic that they would join us and donate that much money to the event, and that's great," she said.

"That they would bring Tioga County into this by doing this, it's just a wonderful way for people to come together for a great cause."

"I felt it was a very nice pledge. It comes down to the community, and Tioga Downs has become a big part of the community."

The Hope for Haiti fundraising event in the Valley, which has a goal of raising $50,000 to assist the victims of Haiti's recent earthquake, has expanded into a county-wide event.

"The Bradford County Regional Arts Council has agreed to expand the 'Valley's Hope for Haiti' across Bradford County," said Elaine Poost, director of live programming for the Bradford County Regional Arts Council.

The Bradford County Hope for Haiti event will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27, in the Valley and throughout the rest of Bradford County, Poost said.

Like the Valley Hope for Haiti event, the purpose of Hope for Haiti in the rest of the county is to raise money for The Salvation Army and The Red Cross to provide disaster relief to the victims of the earthquake, she said.

Also on Wednesday, Callear's R&R Bar-B-Que Restaurant in Sayre is offering a pulled pork sandwich for a donation to Haiti. According to the owner of the restaurant, Roxann Callear, other businesses that belong to the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce are also doing activities to raise money for the relief effort. These include Urban Connections in Athens, Steele Jewelers in Sayre, Horn's True Value in Sayre, and Family Chiropractic in Athens Township.

The only difference between Hope for Haiti in the Valley and Hope for Haiti in the rest of Bradford County is that there is one set of people in charge of the event in the Valley and another set of people in charge of it in the rest of the Bradford County, Ross said.

Ross, who works for the Bradford County Regional Arts Council, said she asked two employees at the arts council's Towanda office to expand Hope for Haiti to outside the Valley, and they agreed to do so.

The Bradford County Regional Arts Council's office in Towanda "has agreed to be the contact organization for the wider county efforts, Poost said.

In the Valley and elsewhere in the county, many businesses have agreed to give a percentage of their daily receipts on Jan. 27 to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, or are placing donation canisters in their businesses, Poost said.

In conjunction with the Hope for Haiti event, the Guthrie Clinic is doing a fund drive, and the Athens, Sayre and Waverly schools have agreed to participate with fundraising drives in their respective schools, Poost said.

Local churches are having special collections in conjunction with Hope for Haiti, she said.

"Monies collected throughout the day will be sent to The Red Cross and The Salvation Army" to assist the victims of the earthquake, she said.

Poost said the Bradford County Regional Arts Council is encouraging businesses, schools, hospitals, churches and civic organizations throughout Bradford County to get involved with Hope for Haiti, Poost said. If those businesses, schools, hospitals and other entities exist outside the Valley, they should call Poost at 268-ARTS, or e-mail her at elaine@bcrac.org to get involved with Hope for Haiti, she said.

Checks collected during the Hope for Haiti event - both in the Valley and in the rest of Bradford County - should be made out to either The Red Cross or The Salvation Army, Poost and Ross said. However, be sure to put in the "memo" section of the check "Haiti disaster relief," Ross said.

Jill Deskins of The Red Cross and Capt. Tim Shaffer of The Sayre Salvation Army will be in front of the Sayre Theatre during Hope for Haiti to receive donations, Ross said.

Every hour during Hope for Haiti, there will be prayer services at the Sayre Theatre, and a video about the earthquake will be shown as part of those services, Ross said.

"The video doesn't show the deaths, but it does show the destruction, heartache and despair," she said.

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