Ross County, Ohio — United Way of Ross County, one of the area’s leading nonprofit organizations, is excited to announce the details of its 2020-2021 Campaign Kickoff.  The kickoff will be held in the form of a telethon, to be held on September 13, 2020, at Chillicothe’s historic Majestic Theatre from 11:00 am -7:00 pm and will be streamed live via Facebook.  The campaign theme is United We All Win.

“We found the theme, ‘United We All Win,’ to be very appropriate given the challenges faced in fundraising during this time of COVID-19,” says Rick W. Smith Sr., MBA, MA, CFRL, president and CEO, United Way of Ross County. “Nonprofits around the world are faced with an inability to raise money through their typical means via special events like galas, golf tournaments, and in-person visits.  For us, we raise most of the money that we grant back into the community through traditional workplace giving campaigns.  While we plan to do some of this, but due to COVID-19, many businesses cannot allow us to come into their buildings. So we as a staff decided that we would offer a virtual event to the community, a virtual telethon that would be much fun, raise money and benefit the community. United We All Win.”

The telethon will be hosted by a hilariously funny comedian, Lori Graves, and will feature regional talent and national talent from various parts of the country.  One of the funniest comedians/actors in the world, Michael Colyar, whom you will know from hit movies such as House Party 3, and TV shows The Martin Lawrence Show, and Black-Ish will appear during the telethon. We will also feature accomplished singers and musicians: Asa Lovechild, Scott Butterbaugh, Alexis Cierra, Scott Collier, and Dave Huffman, as well as local bands Six to Noon and BBJ Project, along with acoustic talent Pete Blevins and Funny Bone comedian Jon Craig.

“The telethon will be loads of fun as lots of entertainment will be offered, and we will conduct a silent auction with some amazing items up for bid, including vacation packages, weekend dinners, artwork from world-renowned visual artist and author, Synthia SAINT JAMES and a local artist who will create a piece of art that will be auctioned to the highest bidder!  You can get some incredible deals and help our area’s nonprofits all at the same time,” says Smith.  He adds, “There will also be some surprise guests that you will not want to miss.” The musical talent will be segmented into various genres of music, from Gospel to Country and Hip-Hop to Blues to Bluegrass.

The money raised from the telethon will go back into the community through grants that the United Way of Ross County gives to Ross County nonprofits and schools.

For more information, please contact the United Way of Ross County at (740) 773-3280.