Belker and Shane: A Story For The 28 Hours of Hope.

Brian and Todd's 14th annual "28 Hours of Hope". 

14 years they've been doing this. 

Because kids are nothing but exceptional in how wonderful they make us feel about this life we lead, and those moments that would pass us by if not for them.

Read on for a story about Shane and his dog Belker. 

14 years ago this began. This event, where Brian and Todd stay up for 28 hours on-the-air to raise money to help abused kids. At that time, Brian and Todd were just about ten years into their tenure here at K99.

Since then- 1998, Brian and Todd, The K99 studios, our building, and the community itself have seen a lot of changes.

Headlines have changed over those years as well—nowadays it’s –

“Top ten cars easiest to insure… Tim Tebow in Love Triangle… Actors feud on Twitter”

But as much as things and headlines change, some things still remain; such as these headlines:

“Man held for alleged long-term child sex.”

“Girl starved to death while parent raise virtual child online.”

“Deadly child abuse cases reach new record in 2010”

“Man found guilty of molesting 5 yr old girl.”

“Man gets nearly 32 years for child porn.”

“Gymnastics coach reaches plea deal involving attempted video-taping.”

Those are a few national headlines. Recently, a local story out of Weld County involved a mother and her boyfriend. They kept one of her children locked up in a back room of their trailer on a soiled, sheetless mattress with the window boarded up and mice eating at his dry pasta –the pasta which he used to supplement the FOUR meals he was allowed PER WEEK.

From The Denver Post:

 "After I read what happened and saw what happened," Weld County District Judge Thomas Quamme said, referring to photos of the squalid Erie trailer where Jolliff lived with her son and daughter, "the question comes to mind is, 'How can a human being do this to another human being?' It's incomprehensible."

These ARE NOT the stories we should be hearing of about our kids.

They ARE- ALL our kids. It’s OUR community, they’re our future. Our kids.

Kama, co-worker of ours, recently posted on Facebook a story about a little boy named Shane who’s dog had to be put-down.

He seemed to accept his dog’s ‘transition’ without any difficulty or confusion.

He and his family sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

The little boy, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.''

Startled, they all turned to him.

He said, ‘People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?''

The six-year-old continued:

''Well, dogs already know how to do that---- so they don't need to stay as long.''

That is the kind of story we should be hearing involving our kids-- all the time.

28 Hours. It’s really not that long of a time-- considering all we want, and need to do.

Please donate now to help abused children in Northern Colorado and to help fight against child abuse.

1-800-500-2-K99.  Or click here. 

Thank You.