As you all know the ANCA just had its telethon. I have never participated in a telethon before so this was all new to me. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the day of. The day started off with going to Horizon studio since that is where the telethon was being held. As it is with all events, everyone was in a rush to get last minute things done. I think that watching a telethon, you are never prepared for what happens backstage. I was very nervous about the phone calls since so much is dependent on people answering the calls. I knew I was going to be on the phones, but still I was scared. I got many phone calls from people all over the country.

I want say that each call left me something to think about, but there were a few calls that I will always remember. The first one was a lady who called to ask me about one of the songs that was on the telethon. She was not Armenian, but she said that she really enjoyed the song and wanted to know the name of it. I stumbled for a minute because I had no idea what was being aired on television. I told her I did not know exactly, but if she donated a certain amount, she would get the CD that featured the music from the telethon. At that point she asked me what the organization was. I started telling about the ANCA and why I was volunteering, as quickly as I could. In the end she was persuaded to donate and receive the CD. I think that this call could have gone two ways, and I am proud to say that I made sure that it went in a way to favor the telethon.

I also remember that while I was getting the information from one person, the tote board showed two million and everyone started yelling. I had to ask the person to hold on, and she asked me what was going on. I told her we just hit two million and she started yelling at everyone next to her, “YAY how exciting…” It made me happy that people all over the country were supporting ANCA’s success. At some point, I was talking to someone who told me Kim Kardashian made a donation. I should add that when we are taking phone calls, the rest of the world is tuned out since you have to really concentrate. I had no idea what was going on unless someone was yelling something.

The last call was from a ten year old boy who wanted to donate $10. At first I was suspicions that it might be a crank call, but when I asked how he was going to pay, he gave the phone to his parent who said the credit card information. I thought that it was the most adorable thing ever. The kid sounded so determined to donate.  I had a bit of a hard time hearing because there was so much noise around me, but he repeated whatever he needed to and was just super sweet to talk to. This call made my day.

All in all, the telethon was a success. It is good to know that the ANCA has such dedicated supporters.