5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTC.TV partner to support troops 12/1/05

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTC.TV, Channel 45 are joining forces for a third year to support Operation Uplink over the holiday season.

The stations will host three in-studio telephone hotlines to raise money throughout December: Monday, December 5; Tuesday, December 13; and Wednesday, December 21. Each hotline will run from 6 to 8am, 11am to 12pm and 5 to 7pm. Checks will also be accepted at the television stations throughout the month.

Monetary donations will be accepted for Operation Uplink, a program that distributes free 15-minute phone cards to soldiers overseas. This program is funded entirely by donations from the public and private sector. Donations are collected by the national Veterans of Foreign Wars, who then purchases phone cards in bulk and distributes them to soldiers. All local donations will go to troops from Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The stations� campaign will continue until January 1^st, 2006, but is ongoing through the national VFW. The two stations raised over $71,000 in their efforts last year.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTC.TV, Channel 45 are the exclusive media sponsors in the region, and have partnered with the national Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Missouri and the Minnesota VFW on this community service campaign. The national VFW created Operation Uplink in 1996.

Donations by check may be sent to: