Sounds of the Season off to strong start: $310K raised, 15,190 pounds of food donated

Sounds of the SeasonCBC Toronto's charity drive in support of local food banks got a strong start Friday, raising more than $310,000 in donations as the day of live television, radio and music kicked off the annual campaign.

• Snapshots from Sounds of the Season
• Sounds of the season schedule
• How you can donate

Thousands came to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre for a special day of programming. People arrived as early as 3 a.m. to ensure they gota seat to see the live broadcast of Metro Morning andspecial musical performancesin the Glenn Gouldstudio. By the time the broadcast had aired, more than $200,000 in donations had already poured in.

For those whocouldn't get a seat in the Gould studio, others filled seats in the Atrium where they watched the broadcast on a big screen.

The crowd enjoyedperformances by singer Julie Nesrallah, who also hosts Tempo on CBC Radio 2. Other performances included a rocking rendition of Come All Ye Faithful bySharon Riley and the Faith Chorale. Another highlight of the morning was singer Francesco Yates's stirring version of the Leonard Cohen classicHallelujah.

CBC q host Shad entertained the audience, while Drive host Rich Terfry added to the day's soundtrack.

Hundreds of people also brought food donations to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, all of which topped out at 15,190 pounds by the end of the day.

Last year, Sounds of the Seasonraised more than $600,000 and collected40,000 pounds of food.

CBC hopes to top those figures this year, with plans to collect donations and food until Dec. 31.

If you've not yet donated, here's how you can contribute.