TV station sets goal of $1 million

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

When officials of a local television station launched a telethon last week for victims of the terrorist attacks, they expected to raise a couple of hundred thousand dollars from Las Vegans.

"We were absolutely amazed by what happened," said Dick Fraim, general manager of KLAS Channel 8. "In the first hour last Thursday we raised $45,000, and by the end of our 11 p.m. newscast, we had raised $143,000."

As of 8:20 a.m. today, $937,022 was raised in pledges and donations to the station, on the station's website (klastv.com) and in an account at Nevada State Bank.

Encouraged by those early returns, KLAS officials now hope to raise $1 million by the end of the drive Thursday.

"If we are just shy of the $1 million mark, we may keep it going a little longer to meet the goal," Fraim said. The telethon breaks into programming twice every half-hour and during newscasts.

Money raised will be funneled through the local American Red Cross to agencies in New York.

Among the more interesting donations to the TV station so far have been $600 in coins and dollars raised through a charity car wash, IRS rebate checks, offers of unemployment checks, a $10,000 gift from Cox Communications and $6,000 raised by students of the Las Vegas Academy for the Performing Arts, Fraim said.

Other fund-raising efforts in Las Vegas have also continued: