WATCH: 34th Annual Unity Shoppe Telethon held in honor of Barbara Tellefson, essential workers
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The show must go on! In the midst of a pandemic and only weeks after the sudden loss of its founder, the Unity Shoppe is continuing to showcase its 34th Annual Unity Telethon.
You can watch the multi-hour event on KEYT NewsChannel 3 and on KEYT.com starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Rather than the usual live concerts and bustle of customers throughout the evening, we will be airing pre-recorded segments in an effort to protect all participants from the coronavirus.
In the same spirit, this year's telethon will be held under the theme, "Honoring Essential Workers."
The Unity Shoppe wants to make sure that families struggling to get through the financial, physical and emotional impacts of the pandemic are being cared for and can feed their families with dignity.
In addition, the organization will be honoring Barbara Tellefson, who founded the nonprofit but sadly passed away last month.
Tellefson created the Unity Shoppe out of a small charity, and today the organization helps 20,000 people each year receive food from its free store in Santa Barbara.
Tellefson passed away following a brief illness in November. She was 84 years old.
During the telethon on Saturday, Dec. 12, viewers may call in between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to 805-845-5555, and speak with a phone bank volunteer to make a donation to this cause. You can also text “TELETHON2020” to 44-321.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.unityshoppe.org.
Those interested in watching the scheduled USC Trojans @ UCLA Bruins game at 4:30 p.m. can watch it LIVE on The NOW Channel which is 3.2 over-the-air or Channel 13 for those with cable (COX, Comcast, Spectrum-Charter).
