EAST HAVEN

On Dec. 11, East Haven Television (ETV) hosted a successful telethon to benefit the Branford Community Club’s (BCC) animal shelter, raising $600 during its airing.

The result was considered a “big win” according to Jay Miles, ETV’s board chair. Miles thanked the generosity of viewers for their donations to support the BCC. Miles acknowledged that “this deep into the season, people are getting a little donor-fatigued,” but added that he was was thankful for both the support from viewers and the opportunity to give the BCC a platform.

“I loved how much exposure we got for them and to be able to share some of the stories of the people at that organization and the pets,” said Miles. “We have real individual creatures with stories and needs, and I think we got all that across.”

This was the second time since 2023 that ETV hosted a telethon to benefit a local organization, with the previous edition having supported the East Haven Food Pantry. The goal of this year’s music-filled, televised fundraiser to support the BCC and the felines it has saved was what made it another “really worthy cause,” said Noelle Veillette, ETV’s community coordinator.

“I did my own research and really learned about how greatly the BCC has served the area’s cats and their people for over 25 years at this point,” said Veillette. “We’re all animal people here, so this was ultimately an easy choice.”

The telethon featured performances by guitarist and singer Ponybird and multi-instrumentalist Shaun Oreilly, the latter of whom was pleased to be performing at ETV “in the context of a good cause,” he told The Courier.

The telethon featured an interview with BCC volunteer Kelsey Elizabeth Matthews, who is a graduate of East Haven High School. Matthews informed ETV’s assistant production manager and telethon host Dominic Manna about the conditions and needs of the shelter, which cares for and finds homes for feral cats and kittens.

According to Matthews, the BCC has over 100 volunteers who are responsible for the cleanliness, health, and wellness of the shelter and its cats, working every day to support the organization’s mission.

“It’s such a team effort, a major community endeavor, where we have all these people involved working tirelessly, so that we can get these cats adopted,” said Matthews. “It’s the dedication and the grit and the determination of everyone that’s involved, no matter what that looks like, that really makes the work that we do possible to get these cats off the street, out of bad situations, and into loving homes.”

There are currently 100 felines in need of continued support within the BCC’s care. Of those felines, 60 are resident shelter cats and 40 are kittens in foster care, according to Matthews. Appealing to community support, Matthews told the viewing audience about the importance of the trap, neuter, and release process for discovered feral cats. She explained that the process can help reduce the overpopulation of feral cats and take “some stress off of organizations like the Branford Compassion Club, who ultimately end up responsible for taking these kittens in and making sure that they have homes and they're not dying out in the street.”

“That's another thing that the community can do to help,” she added.

Matthews told The Courier that it was a “huge honor” to “be able to represent the organization 12 years later and share the mission, share a little bit of my personal story, share the cats’ stories, and be a part of raising funds,” for the BCC, adding that it was a moment where events came “full circle.”

On the production side of the event, Miles said that the telethon demonstrated growth on the part of the personnel at the ETV, from the camera work to the assistant studio manager Manna hosting the proceedings.

“In all senses, sonically and visually, the compassion—pun intended—is really satisfying,” said Miles.