radioworld.com: Broadcasters Collect Food and More
December 16, 2015
The National Association of Broadcasters has released its latest Licensed to Serve newsletter. As usual, it features many tales of broadcaster largesse.
At this time of the year, food is a big item for many people, and radio broadcasters turned their efforts in that direction.
WSOY(AM) in Decatur, Ill., owned by Neuhoff Communications, collected 1.3 million pounds of food in its 14th annual WSOY Community Food Drive in October. The drive works in cooperation with local schools. Beneficiaries were Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, Good Samaritan Inn, Northeast Community Fund, the Judy Mason Thanksgiving Basket Project and Reasonable Services.
On the West Coast, Cumulus Media San Francisco’s KFOG(FM), donated $200,000 to several area food banks: Alameda County Community Food Bank; Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano; Napa Valley Food Bank; Redwood Empire Food Bank; San Francisco-Marin Food Bank; and Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. The money was raised through sales of a music CD that the station produced.
Alpha Media’s San Antonio cluster raised almost $115,000 for the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner, named after a local restaurateur. The dinner provided 25,000 meals.
On another front, WTMJ(AM), an E.W. Scripps station in Milwaukee, drummed up funds for Korean war vets to take an Honor Flight to Washington to visit the Korean War memorial. Expected proceeds, $100,000.
Looking toward next year, Greater Media’s New Brunswick, N.J. property, WCTC(AM), is organizing an anti-drug-themed music contest, in association with the New Jersey Broadcasters Association and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Called “2016 New Jersey Shout Down Drugs!” finalists will compete at a concert in May with a $5,000 music contract for the first place winner.
And last, but certainly not least, an AMBER Alert issued on radio led to the recovery in Ohio of a two-year girl who had been kidnapped from her home in Tennessee when her mother was murdered.
