Despite the partial absence of Clark Howard due to surgery, his 33rd annual Clark’s Christmas Kids raised enough money to get more than 24,000 gifts to 8,137 foster children throughout Georgia.
In all, the event raised $1,440,000.
Howard had successful surgery earlier this month to replace a defective aortic valve he had since he was a child, but it prevented him from attending in-person live radio events for the first time at local Walmarts to promote the event.
Other WSB radio and TV personalities including Fred Blankenship, Eric Von Haessler and Mark Arum filled in and helped him fulfill the annual goal of ensuring that every child in the Georgia foster care system has at least one gift on Christmas day. Howard, in an interview before the surgery, said the program is now a well-oiled machine with help from news/radio 95.5 WSB, Clark.com, Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS), The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia and Walmart.
“It means the world to dad and our whole family that you made this happen,” said Rebecca Howard Jennings, Clark Howard’s daughter who now oversees the program, in a press release.
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Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.
Participants of 11Alive’s annual Can-a-Thon have donated more than 218,000 cans for the Salvation Army to distribute to families in need.
The campaign continues through the end of the year via salvationarmygeorgia.org or people can donate food items via the Amazon Wishlist link Amazon.com through Dec. 31.
The official collection day was Dec. 1, which was unfortunately cold and wet and featured one new location: the Publix parking lot at Shamrock Plaza in Atlanta. Long-time 11Alive reporter Jerry Carnes and anchor Aisha Tyler helped out that day at that location.
“We are continually grateful to both 11Alive and Publix for their support of this effort to help us stock the Salvation Army’s 13 food pantries throughout metro Atlanta,” said Angela Clawson, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army.
She said the Can-a-Thon has brought in 200,000 to 300,000 cans in recent years.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
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Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc
Fish 104.7′s Christmas Wish program, which fulfills gift requests for 400 to 500 families, featured several visits to local Chick-fil-A’s this season.
Crystal Nicole, who won a Grammy for Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)” and was featured on this season’s “The Voice,” came by the Chick-fil-A off Jett Ferry Road in Dunwoody earlier this month to sing Christmas tunes for customers. Beth Bacall, long-time afternoon host, presided over the event that morning and Santa Claus came by to bring extra Christmas cheer.
Nicole, who recently released her own version of “Silent Night” as a single, has been a lifelong fan of the Fish and was thrilled to help out their charity event.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
She didn’t make it to the live shows on “The Voice” but has no regrets. “I learned so much from [coach] Reba [McEntire] in such a short amount of time,” she said. “Ultimately, God sets the tone for whatever reason and that is the length of time God wanted me on the show. I lost nothing and gained everything.”
Nicole said she had just shot “Silent Night” on top of Stone Mountain and almost froze.
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