Press release from Friends of the Smokies:
Waynesville, NC – On August 24, Friends of the Smokies hosts the 22nd annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon to benefit Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). The event has a long history as the only telethon for a national park, and has raised more than $3.2 million.
“Later this week, on August 25, the National Park Service marks 100 years of protecting America’s most special places,” said GSMNP Superintendent Cassius Cash who will make an appearance during the broadcast. “I can’t think of a better place to celebrate this incredible milestone than in the Smokies and I am honored by the continued support of our communities and the Friends of the Smokies who enable us to better care for this beautiful park each year.”
This year’s fundraiser will air on Wednesday, August 24th, just one day before the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.
The telethon will be broadcast live from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on WLOS-TV Channel 13 in Asheville and WBIR-TV Channel 10 in Knoxville. The event is generously sponsored by Dollywood, Mast General Store, Tennessee State Bank, Pilot Flying J, and The Lodge at Buckberry Creek, with enthusiastic volunteer support from First Tennessee Bank, Home Federal Bank, and Tennessee State Bank.
“This telethon is the perfect opportunity for the people of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee to come together and protect the amazing treasure right in their backyard,” said Friends of the Smokies President Jim Hart. “We are grateful for the generous and loyal support that viewers provide each year to help preserve the Great Smoky Mountains.”
This year, viewers will see many of the GSMNP needs which Friends of the Smokies is funding, more than $840,000 to support education, conservation, recreation, and historic preservation. Current projects include rehabilitation of the Alum Cave Trail by the Trails Forever crew, ongoing suppression of the hemlock woolly adelgid and other invasive pests, supporting black bear and elk management, and funding for Parks as Classrooms environmental education programs for more than 18,000 Tennessee and North Carolina students.
Last year’s Friends Across the Mountains Telethon raised more than $202,000.
Donations can be made online now at www.friendsofthesmokies.org, by calling Friends’ toll-free telethon hotline (844-524-1611) during the Friends Across the Mountains broadcast to make a pledge over the phone, or calling Friends of the Smokies during regular business hours to ask for a donation form to be mailed to you (Waynesville, NC office, 828-452-0720; Kodak, TN office, 865-932-4794).
###
Friends of the Smokies is an official nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and has raised more than $53 million to support critical park programs and maintain the Smokies as a crown jewel of the National Park Service. Find your park at FriendsOfTheSmokies.org.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.