A Telethon to Assist the Burn Victims Mercy Fund
The Burn Victims Mercy Fund has been in the spotlight in recent weeks as it sought to help the late Ian Sambula and Empress Hamilton recover from severe burns sustained in arson at their home on October fourth. It helped the family fly the children to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Galveston, Texas for treatment. While the mission of mercy was unfortunately unsuccessful, the work continues and the Fund needs replenishment to help other victims across Belize. The Girl Guides Association of Belize has agreed to help and on Saturday it will host a telethon in Belize City. We hear more from member of the association and organizer of the telethon, Tyesha Estrada.
Tyesha Estrada
Tyesha Estrada, Girl Guides Association of Belize
“I am a past youth leader and this is what youth leaders do; we always try to give back to our community. So when we sat and watched the news on October fourth – I know the kids weren’t here, they were flown out from the City, but tragedy can hit any one of us. So I said let me take on the initiative and plan the telethon – actually, I wanted to plan a fun day, and when I partnered up with the Commissioner of the Girl Guides, Mrs. Lisa Sutherland, we decided to turn it into a telethon/fun day, to raise more money than the fun day alone would bring in.”
Reporter
“Okay, so how will this work?”
Tyesha Estrada
“We will have five phone lines from B.T.L., and it’s a toll free number, the 0-800-CALL-BTL. There will be two international lines and three local lines for businesses and local families from Belize to call and pledge and from outside as well, to call and pledge money so that we can give back to Miss Yvette Burks from the Burn Victims Fund.”
Reporter
“Is there any particular target you want to reach?”
Tyesha Estrada
“She spent fifty thousand, that’s a very big amount, so we might not make that amount, but that’s our target that we want to raise tomorrow.”
The telethon runs from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon at the NICH Parking Lot behind the Bliss Center on Regent Street. According to Estrada, their original idea of a Fun Day in honor of Aaron Gabourel and Ian and Empress Hamilton will become the annual event to support the Burn Victims Mercy Fund.
