When the annual Rainbow Connection Telethon takes place from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 7, it will already be off to a solid start.
As is often the case, students from area schools help raise money for the Tuscarawas County agency’s primary fundraiser each year.
One of those is New Philadelphia’s Central Elementary, which only has fifth-graders this year.
“We started with a $1,000 goal, which we met pretty quickly,” Principal John Zucal said. “We raised it to $1,500, then to $2,000 and that wasn’t a problem. We ended up raising over $3,100. Michelle Pipes, our Student Leadership Advisor, said, ‘Do you realize that a Corporate Sponsorship is $2,500 and we surpassed that. I shared that with the kids, and we’re extremely pleased with what we were able to do.”