Meeting Street added $1.1 million to its efforts to support kids with special needs through a four-hour telethon which aired live on East Providence-based television station WPRI on January 28.

More than 1,200 South Coast residents receive support at The Schwartz Center, a Meeting Street branch located on Posa Place, explained Meeting Street President John Kelly. Together with a campus in Providence, the two facilities serve more than 4,000 children.

Last year – the first year the event was broadcasted from the Dartmouth campus – the telethon brought in $1,078,520. In 2015, it raised $863,467. Kelly was confident that donations would again exceed $1 million.

“It’ll be tough. The economy in our area is not great, but every year individuals and companies always respond very well,” Kelly said.

The Schwartz Center traces its history to 1947, a time when treatment and services for special needs children only existed in Boston. Agnes Raposa, whose son was born with cerebral palsy, sought to change that.

The Schwartz Center was born, and has existed ever since. Its services now include a school for special needs students with customized education plans for children, ages 3-22, and an early intervention program that supports children from birth to age three who are diagnosed or at risk of having a developmental delay.

The Schwartz Center building also includes a fully equipped rehabilitation center, staffed and operated by Southcoast Health. It provides physical, occupational, and speech and language therapy.

In total, the Schwartz Center employs more than 100 staff members. Even with current staffing levels, demand remains high for center services. Kelly cited the center’s new early head start program, an income-based program that helps support parents of young children. Kelly estimates more than 1,000 children qualify in New Bedford alone, but funding only covers 36 families.

“New Bedford and Providence are similar in that there is a great number of children in poverty, and there are lots of kids with special needs.” Kelly said.

While the phone bank shut down at 11 p.m., Kelly said come Monday, he expects the phones at the Providence and Dartmouth locations to ring off the hook. Every year, the locations are hammered with parents calling for information, as the telethon helps raise awareness about the center’s existence and the services it offers, he said.