By GENEA NOEL

Freeport News Reporter

A grand telethon was held at the Hilton Outten Convention Centre last night in an effort to bring financial relief to residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands who suffered the destructive wrath of Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Hanna.

The event, which had 18 acts, ranged from marching bands, gospel choirs and solo performances that were nationally televised for people to call in to give to those in need.

The Freeport News team caught up with Simeon Outten, chairperson and coordinator of the event, shortly before the telethon started and he was excited that so many people showed up to give their support.

Dubbing the event as "Operation Touch," Outten said that with so many Grand Bahamians descending from the Turks and Caicos islands, it was important to show residents there that help is on the way.

Outten said that he has also received tremendous help prior to the occasion as persons donated funds to assist in the radio and television time. "Persons have shown great interest and are really committed in helping us and we thank them for it," Outten said.

He added that no financial goal was set for the event as he feels that those in the Turks and Caicos Island are prepared to accept whatever funds that were raised last night.

"We thought that if we did set a goal, we would then have to go begging and pressing people to give and we did not want to do that," said Outten.

With nearly every single building and home on Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands damaged or de-stroyed, Outten said that it was necessary for the Christian community in Grand Bahama to reach out to the 7,000 people affected.

"When we were in the similar situation, a committee from Turks presented a cheque to the Christian Council and that was helpful as we tried to get our lives back together," said Outten. Having survived two hurricanes, Outten said that the Grand Bahama community can sympathize with the residents there because most of them have lost their homes and livelihood.

"Their need is greater, our day or someone else's maybe tomorrow. I think it's all about reaching out to people when they need it most and that is what we are doing," said Outten

Although the island of Inagua suffered considerable damages a well, Outten said that his vision leads him to help those in the Turks and Caicos and he does not like to act outside of what he is spiritually lead to do.

He is hoping that other organizations, including the Inagua Association, will take a similar interest to send relief to their family members.

"We hope that we would be setting an example for other organizations to do the same for the Haitians, Jamaicans, Bahamians in Inagua and all the other islands that were damaged," Outten said.