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Online telethon to raise funds for veterans

A retired Navy senior chief has organized a 24-hour virtual telethon for veterans, beginning at midnight Friday, as a way to share information about veterans programs and raise a little money for support organizations.

Laura Kennedy, a New York consultant on business startups, has put together an around-the-clock webcast of entertainers, authors and veterans advocates as part of an effort that evolved out of her view that the American flag wasn’t being displayed enough in everyday life.

She first had a radio show, “Red, White and Blue,” that talked about patriotic themes; that morphed into what she now calls the Flag Still Stands for Freedom Campaign.

The veterans’ telethon will be live-streamed on the campaign website.

This is the third virtual telethon Kennedy has organized for veterans, but it is the first time she is raising money for veterans organizations. Her campaign is not a charity or non-profit group, which means that donations — which Kennedy said will be passed directly to organizations — are not tax deductible.

One of the groups she will be supporting is VeteranAid.Org, a registered nonprofit group that provides information about the aid and attendance benefit for veterans. A representative of that group, Debbie Burak, is one of the scheduled guests in the telethon.

Kennedy said entertainers performing during the broadcast are donating their fees to Burak’s organization.

The broadcast schedule is heavily packed with the authors of books with military and patriotic themes. Entertainers include country singer Michael Peterson, the Charlie Daniels Band, and the Coldwater Canyon Band, whose lead singer, Howie Vaughn, is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

Burak said if the web-based telethon is a success, she hopes to make it a televised event next year.