Accra, Oct. 17, GNA - Concerned Artistes for Disaster Relief (CADRE), a charitable organization, on Tuesday launched a national appeal to raise funds in support of the four regions recently hit by floods.

The programme dubbed: "Reach-out Ghana" involves a two-day televised telethon, music, mini documentaries, fashion show, auctioning of clothing, CDs and showing of footages from the hard hit areas and solidarity messages from concerned citizens. Kojo Antwi, a renowned musician and originator of the programme, said the plight of the affected regions, especially the three northern regions, moved him into bringing other celebrities in the entertainment world together to use their talents as a medium to raise funds. Floods that hit the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Wstern regions in August and September caused deaths and destruction to property.

Kojo Antwi said there would also be auctioning of high-value cuturl items and other valuable possessions to be provided by celebrities. He added that CADRE was collaborating with all telecom companies to provide SMS avenue for the public to text their contributions. He said the programme, powered by GTV, would be four-hour live telecast on October 26 and 27. Dr Sulley Gariba, Representative of the Northern Development Forum, lauded the initiative and said the programme was a timely intervention meant to change the destiny of the three northern regions. Mr David Dontoh, another artiste, noted that human beings formed an important part of the development of every nation and that there was the need to raise funds to cover the cost of the disaster. Mr Kwasi Kyei Darkwa, a radio presenter, said already, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas had donated 250 million cedis while Karim Garment has given 40 million cedis worth of clothing towards the event and appealed to corporate Ghana to support the programme. Mr Kweku Sintim Misa, Ghana's top comedy show presenter, said the concept demonstrated a new wind of commitment among Ghanaians that would ensure that the nation was prepared to face such natural occurrences. 17 Oct. 07