“Rebuild West Virginia” Telethon to Benefit West Virginia Flood Recovery Efforts Airs this Friday, Followed by Live Concert Event Sunday
Celebrities from music, television, movies, and sports come together to help raise funds and awareness for the Red Cross recovery effort
The “Rebuild West Virginia” telethon for flood relief will air nationally on television and radio stations across the USA and stream online this Friday, July 1st from 7pm-9pm Eastern time. Proceeds will go directly to Red Cross relief efforts across all affected areas of West Virginia. The telethon will air statewide in West Virginia, including all areas directly affected by the flooding, with the assistance of the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. The Friday telethon will be followed by a live concert event Sunday in Charleston headlined by West Virginia resident and America’s Got Talent winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., who is donating all the profits in the month of July from his new song “Come Home To West Virginia” to flood relief efforts.
Telethon viewers will be encouraged to make donations directly to flood relief efforts at www.rebuildwestvirginia.com; to text the word “WVFLOODS” to 90999 to make a $10.00 donation; or to call (877) 273-0511 during the telethon to assist with the effort.
Music and messages will be shared by: Billy Ray Cyrus, country superstar and star of the new CMT series “Still The King;” actor and Princeton WV native Kevin Sizemore (Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462, NCIS, Resurrection, Under The Dome, Rizzoli & Isles); Leonard Coleman and Blunt, the former lead singers of legendary groups the Temptations, Platters, and Drifters; Beckley WV resident Cody Wickline from Season Eight of “The Voice;” Mike Estes, formerly of Lynyrd Skynyrd; “Rocket Boys” New York Times #1 best selling author and Coalwood WV native Homer Hickam; Princeton resident Dreama “Mrs. Gilligan” Denver; Charleston WV’s The Carpenter Ants; actor Chad Lindberg (The Fast and the Furious, October Sky); Lewisburg WV resident and former NBA star Bimbo Coles; major league pitching sensation and Charleston WV native John Kruk; Kenova native and Contemporary Christian superstar Michael W. Smith; John Fogerty pianist/solo artist Bob Malone, who has composed an original song for flood relief called “The River Gives;” Charleston native and actor Bobby Ray Shafer from “The Office;” singer and actress Renee Olstead (Still Standing, The Secret Life of the American Teenager); Mountain Stage host Larry Groce; actress Markie Post (Night Court, The Fall Guy); actor David DeLuise (The Wizards of Waverly Place), AND MANY MORE.
Television and radio stations across West Virginia carrying the Rebuild West Virginia Telethon will give the broadcast 100% total coverage within the Mountain State. West Virginia Public Television will carry the telethon live from 7pm-9pm ET, followed by a repeat of the broadcast from 9pm-11pm ET. In addition, TV stations reaching into over a dozen states have also already agreed to carry the broadcast, which is free and available by open source at the satellite and streaming coordinates listed below:
Stream: www.wvva.com/Global/category.asp?c=210828
Satellite: 18:45 – 21:05 EDT / SES-3 23A DOWNLINK PARAMETERS: – Ku BAND / HD 6MHz – 12145.0 MHz / HORIZONTAL POLARITY – Symbol Rate: 4.600 – 8PSK / DVB-S2 – FEC:3⁄4 – MPEG-4 (H.264) MP&ML 4.1 – DATA RATE: 10.016 MB/S
West Virginia was devastated by historic flooding June 23rd and 24th, causing the deaths of 23 residents, forcing thousands of residents to flee from their homes and businesses, and resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage. The National Guard and FEMA are on site, along with tens of thousands of volunteers. Clean up efforts are expected to take many months.
Thousands are expected to attend the Sunday evening July 3rd “Rebuilding West Virginia” live concert event headlined by Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. and his Big Band, which will include a special guest appearance by Glenn Leonard, the former lead vocalist from the Temptations, dueling with Landau on a “Murphy Meets Motown” tribute. The evening will be capped by a huge fireworks display accompanied by a patriotic music mix on Mix 100.9 radio and more special surprises. The free concert event will be held at The Levee in downtown Charleston starting at 8pm. Monetary and cleaning supply donations for the Red Cross being accepted on site. Murphy has promised to stay and sign every copy of his new “Come Home To West Virginia” CD sold to benefit flood recovery efforts.