Tuesday, the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center held a telethon to raise funds that have been lost during the pandemic. By the end of the night, they hit their goal.
The four-hour event raised over $54,000 from many local businesses and community members. The night was filled with numerous musical performances and interviews to raise awareness for the arts and how important the Civic Center is to downtown Lima.
While the center has been able to slowly reopen its doors since being forced to close for months, they are nowhere near the scale they were before the pandemic hit.
“The arts were one of the first sections of the economy that were shut down. Right now it’s feeling like we’re going to probably be one of the last ones that are going to be able to open. So, we’re trying to do everything that we can to keep our doors open," explains Abe Ambroza, CEO of the Civic Center. "We’re really at this point asking for help to be able to do that. To get to what looks like might be the finish line. To when we’re going to be able to open the doors and hit the ground running full speed, we need the public’s help.”
Although the telethon has ended, donations can continue to be made by visiting limaciviccenter.com
