Meeting Street Telethon hits 36th year

(WPRI) - What are your plans this Saturday night? Dinner? Movies? What you should be doing this Saturday night is tuning in to the Meeting Street Telethon live on WPRI-12, and it’s presented by Cardi’s Furniture.

John Kelly of Meeting Street and Nick, Ron and Peter Cardi's Furniture joined The Rhode Show to talk more about the telethon that's been going strong for 36 years..

"It’s a great night, and most importantly it’s a great cause. Meeting Street provides comprehensive educational, therapeutic and developmental services to over 1,700 children young adults, and families with and without developmental delays or disabilities. They’ve got a beautiful, state of the art facility you can see from I-95, not far from the big blue bug, and on Saturday night, you’ll see great stories of what an impact this RI treasure has surely made since 1946," said Nick Cardi.

There are some great ways people can be involved and help.

"That’s right; for those who want to donate; there are a few options: you can dial in, they’ve got a new number: 1-888-289-1299 and make a pledge over the phone, you never know who will answer that call, it could be a state or national leader, it could be a local celebrity, a member from a local business supporter or even my brothers or myself. Either way, all major credit cards accepted, you could do monthly plan over the course of a year," said Ron Cardi.

The telethon is one night, but Meeting Street feels the affects of the telethon throughout the year.

"It's the biggest fundraising event of the year. To do the work we do year in and year out we have to raise close to $2 million a year. Thanks to Channel 12 and the Cardi brothers we are able to put on a great show. This telethon is our biggest fundraising event of the year," said John Kelly of Meeting Street.

There’s another way people can get involved and that’s through the online auction.

"You can start right now by going to the website and bidding on some great items in their online auction! Some great stuff on there: rounds of golf, tickets to shows, spa packages, a curt shilling autographed baseball, Pawtucket Red Sox party, a vacation to Ireland, entries into the Amica Marathon & Half Marathon, and our personal favorite; the $5000 shopping spree to Cardi’s Furniture! To see all the great items they’ve got, head over to the website where you can preview, bid, and continue to bid until you win the great item, and of course, all the proceeds go to benefit Meeting Street!" said Peter Cardi.

The Meeting Street Telethon presented by Cardi's Furniture is from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on WPRI-12.