Have A Christmas Carol Sung To You By A live Person

If you find yourself lonely, missing a loved one, or want a bit of holiday cheer, just pick up your phone and have a student at the University of Illinois sing your favorite Christmas carol to you. Anytime 24/7 when you need a smile. Here's the number.
When you need it most, you can call this number and a live person will sing you any Christmas song, 24/7. Really. The only catch is you only have until December 16 to have to call the hotline for carols. I've tried it and it will make you smile.

For one week in December, between finals and end-of-semester goodbyes, students in one college dorm take turns singing holiday tunes to strangers.

Around-the-clock, they man the phones, taking requests for songs from people all over the world seeking a little bit of holiday cheer.

If you need a lift or a bit of cheer, you can"Dial-A-Carol". It's been around for more than 55 years thanks to the University of Illinois.

According to Washington Post, "the program started in 1960 when a woman named Betty Gordon, convinced the residents in Snyder Hall, the then-all-male dorm to sing and play carols for random callers around the holidays".

At the beginning of the program, the college students would sing to only every few callers, playing vinyl records for the others. But over the years, the students decided it was more fun and festive to sing them all.

Their favorite callers are teachers from elementary or middle school classrooms.

They opened the phone lines at midnight on Thursday, December 10 and within the first 14 hours they had already hit 1,000 calls and all 50 states. Currently, they have sung 3,350 times and counting. They also received calls from Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.

There's even a Dial-a-Carol Facebook page.

The University of Illinois students will be singing Christmas carols until 11:59 p.m., December 16. So pick out your favorite holiday song, give them a call at (217) 332-1882, and prepare to smile when you enjoy a private one on one solo.

The easiest way to spread holiday cheer is to sing a carol for all to hear. Talk about spreading cheer. Well done Illini. Well done.