Special Envoy for Women and Children, Kim Simplis Barrow along with Care-Belize will be hosting a telethon on Saturday in hopes of raising one million dollars towards the construction of an Inspiration Center.
The Inspiration Center is a rehabilitation center that will offer basic medical care and various therapies to children with special needs while also serving as a community center with after-school classes for children from the surrounding communities.
This project is estimated to cost 3 million Belize dollars and this Saturday, first lady Barrow plans to raise at least one million of that through the Inspiration Telethon. She told us how everyone can play a role in making it happen.
Kim Simplis-Barrow - Special Envoy for Women and Children
"Throughout the day, there will be entertainment, so it will be at the Bliss, and people can come in, personally, to make their donation, if that is what they please. We have entertainment going, so we're inviting the public to come out to the Bliss, to see the entertainment. We'll have MC's, and we'll be getting updates from all over the country, from the booths that we have set up. So, we'll have booths set up all over the country, and we'll be getting updates from them of how the donations are coming, and asking people to go to the different locations to make their donations, so that we can add it in as the time goes on."
Monica Bodden
"What's the target? What is the amount that you guys hope to raise?"
Kim Simplis-Barrow
"We're hoping to raise a million dollars. It's a bit ambitious, but we know that we can. We are going to try to do the best that we possibly can. We have offered so many different options for donating. We're just going to plea to the people to make that donation. The money is for the Inspiration Center, which is a facility that we hope to build for children with disabilities to go and get all types of therapies in Belize. As we know, there is no therapy center; there is nowhere that these children can really go to get their therapy that they really need. We know too that children with disabilities are the most abused, not only in Belize, but in the world. And, we also know that 10-15% of the population of each country has a disability. So, we really need have somewhere for these children to go, get their therapy so that they can become productive citizens."
The telethon will run from 8am to 6pm from the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts and will be simulcast on this station, all local TV channels and radio, as well as streamed on the internet.
