ATLANTA — UPDATE: After an adjustment following a discrepancy in the can count, we're still just shy of reaching our goal of collecting 300,000 cans.
But even after the counting of cans ends, you can still help out! Tune into 11Alive tonight between 5-7 p.m. for our virtual Can-A-Thon telethon as we try to push the total even higher!
Original story below
For four decades, 11Alive has been partnering with the Salvation Army to help fight hunger through the holidays. Today, you can help contribute to what we hope will be our best annual Can-A-Thon yet.
For the past 40 years, 11Alive employees – from engineers, producers, directors, reporters, managers to our anchors – have risen in the pre-dawn hours in early December to join Salvation Army volunteers at our event locations to greet generous Atlanta donors who show up with their canned food items to give to those in need.
It is an annual holiday tradition at 11Alive and an employee favorite for giving back and directly helping our neighbors.
This year, we've set our largest goal yet - 300,000 cans. You can help us do it by going to any of the following locations:
- Marietta: 202 Waterman Street SE, Marietta, GA 30060
- Atlanta: 967 Dewey St, Atlanta, GA 30310
- Lawrenceville: 3455 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30044
- Brookhaven: 2090 North Druid Hills Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329
And because hunger never takes a holiday, there are more opportunities to join the fight against food insecurity. If you can’t attend the drop off event today, until Dec. 31 you can help us fight hunger from the comfort of your home or the palm of your hand:
- Donate Online: salvationarmy.org
- Call 404-885-7611
- Amazon Wishlist: Search “Can-A-Thon” to find our shopping list to fulfill a need
Follow along with us today as we aim to bring more back to the community than Can-A-Thon ever has before:
7:08 p.m. | During the final hour of the telethon, we received $692.80 in donations, for a total of $1,041.20 from the telethon.
5:55 p.m. | During the day at drop-off locations, we received $2,873 in cash donations. During the first hour of the telethon, we received an additional $348.
5:00 p.m. | After further counting of cans, we've adjusted our can count down to 248,485 cans, leaving us just shy of reaching our goal of collecting 300,000 cans for this year's Can-A-Thon.
2:20 p.m. | Our most recent numbers update has us surpassing our goal of 300,000 cans with 317,318!
1:27 p.m. | We're getting even closer to meeting our goal! The latest can count stands at 285,777.
12:15 p.m. | We're making incredible progress! Our newest count has us at 216,891 cans collected.
11:20 a.m. | Latest update on the cans. We're more than halfway to our goal with 164,585 cans now in!
11:15 a.m. | More donations keep flowing in!
10:30 a.m. | 11Alive Anchor Aisha Howard and team are getting tons of love in south Atlanta!
10:15 a.m. | We have our latest update on the can count! 38,354!
9:50 a.m. | On this very special 40th Can-A-Thon, we were lucky enough to have the creator of the event, Sheryl Gripper, join us!
9:25 a.m. | Here's our first Can-A-Thon donation update! We're at 11,343 so far!
9:05 a.m. | 11Alive's Chesley McNeil and Kristin Crowley drop in with an update from our Marietta location!
8:40 a.m. | 11Alive Anchor Aisha Howard and Traffic Tracker Crash Clark check in from the drop-off location in Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood!
8:25 a.m. | 11Alive Anchor Cheryl Preheim spoke to volunteers at our drop-off location on North Druid Hills Road about why this day means so much to them!
8:00 a.m. | 11Alive's Jerry Carnes getting us off and running in Lawrenceville!
7:35 a.m. | In case you missed it this morning, here's the story from Jerry Carnes on the remarkable tradition of giving to Can-A-Thon at Greater Atlanta Christian School!
7:10 a.m. | Here's more with Major McWilliams!
6:30 a.m. | Salvation Army Major Thomas McWilliams sat down this morning with 11Alive Anchor Aisha Howard to share why Can-A-Thon is so important:
6:00 a.m. | Welcome to the 40th Can-A-Thon! We'll be providing updates as we track our goal every hour today.
Last year we surpassed 200,000 cans, and this year we want to do even better! If you stop by one of our drop-off sites today, be sure to say hi to our 11Alive anchors and reporters!
A look back: 11Alive Holiday Can-A-Thon celebrates 40 years
