The 40th Meeting Street Telethon – the first to be televised from both Providence, Rhode Island and Dartmouth – had a lofty goal of $1 million. Within four hours on Saturday night, donators did just that, bringing in $1,078,520.

The donations will help fund the cost of operations and programming at Meeting Street School in Rhode Island and The Schwartz Center in Dartmouth. Both facilities provide therapeutic services and education for children with special needs.

The Schwartz Center, located off Old Westport Road, serves families from Attleboro to Cape Cod. Meeting Street took over leadership at The Schwartz Center in 2014.

Throughout the evening, callers phoned in as news anchors from WPRI-TV Channel 12 provided viewers with information on the two schools and the students who attend them.

The halls of The Schwartz Center were packed with families, faculty and kids as the telethon was being filmed live. Kids were busy interacting with the various swings and obstacles found in the sensory room as adults hovered near the phone banks, watching the live feed on TV.

Molly, a 7-year-old student at The Schwartz Center, was there with her family to talk about how much the school means to them. Molly has been visiting the center since she was 14 months old.

“When she turned three, I knew I wanted her here for school,” said Molly’s mom, Mindy Menard. “She’s come a long way being here. Between all of the supports that she’s had, we never expected her to be at this point.”

Menard praised the facility and its staffers for the continuity of care they provide to kids.

“There aren’t a lot of places for pediatric rehab or specialized therapeutic school settings,” she said. “There are a lot of options here. I wish more kids like Molly were able to come here because the public school districts struggle to support these kids. They do their best, but everything is here as a unit.”

Molly wasn’t the only Schwartz Center celebrity present during the telethon. A specially trained 7-year-old Goldendoodle (a cross-breed of a golden retriever and a poodle) was there to meet and greet visitors. Tina the Goldendoodle is a certified therapy dog that visits the center every Tuesday.

“She interacts with the children,” said Barbara Cook, Tina’s owner and a volunteer at the center. “We get the kids to throw a ball, and she catches it and always brings it back to the child who throws it.”

Cook said her significant other spent a significant amount of time training Tina to be obedient and gentle. She said that these days when she shows up at the center, Tina hops out of the car, grabs her own leash and walks herself to the front door.

“One of the most important things is we’ve been able to get reactions from children who have not done some of the motor skills, like reaching or leaning down to get a ball,” she said. “It’s amazing what kind of response a dog can get from children who are severely challenged.”

When Molly had completed her interview with the TV anchors from WPRI, she met up with Tina in the hall to throw her a tennis ball.

The final moments of the telethon featured shouts of excitement as the final tally was announced. Last year, the Meeting Street Telethon brought in $863,467.