February 14, 2020
What have been some of the more successful community-oriented initiatives you’ve been involved with during your career?
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Bartel. WKTU: 1993-1994: Q102 Peace On The Streets to raise awareness on the consequences of gun violence. 2014-2018: KTU Stuff-A-Truck to provide food to the homeless and those in need in the NYC tri-state area. Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia: The work we do for local Children’s Hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network is invaluable. These events grow our brands, amplify the brands of our morning shows and other on-air talent and bring our teams together, all while raising money for local children and their families. Because every dollar raised stays in the community, we’re truly able to make a difference in the cities we serve. Buzz Knight, Buzz Knight Media: What a long list of tremendous stories that great teams within our organizations have accomplished! They are the true stars! So many to mention that I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Some of the big ones that come to mind. Preston and Steve (WMMR/Philly) and their amazing Campout for Hunger A spectacular blending of show business and cause related. John Debella (WMGK/Philly) and his annual Turkey Drop is amazing as well.
Kobe, @kobeontheradio: In Jacksonville we partnered up with the Ronald McDonald House to donate DVD’s from Best Buy and build the kids a movie library. Also, in Syracuse we had a weekly Dog Adoption video on Facebook Live, and every dog we featured ended up getting adopted! Mike “OD” O’Donnell, WKRZ: We partnered with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to raise tens of thousands of dollars over the years for various local organizations with people in need. We’ve done some great stuff with the American Cancer Society. We also look at individual causes too. There was a boy who was badly burned in a fire and his family didn’t have the funds to cover his medical expenses, so we held a one-day radiothon and raised over $8,000.
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R Dub! Z90: Our midday personality, Xavier “The X-Man” was on a mission to help local kids battling cancer. He started a small car show with a few lowriders in a strip mall more than 15 years ago. Today, that same show, Cruise for the Cause” is held at the arena, with over 500 cars and 10,000 spectators.
Jammer, WEZB: Q102 Peace On The Streets in Philly. It was a total all-in outreach from the station to raise awareness on the consequences of gun violence. Paul Kelly, WWAC: The biggest is called Operation Help – a food and funds drive to benefit the local Community food Bank of NJ. We’ve done it for more than a decade now – our jocks camp out and broadcast live from a sponsor venue accepting donations 24 hours a day just in time for Thanksgiving. Schools, area businesses, civic organizations, individuals – everyone chips in for the biggest giving event of the year in south Jersey!
Fish, WKRZ: There was an event we did here for a long time called Bras for Breast Cancer. Every October for breast cancer awareness month, we took literally one of the longest bridges in Wilkes-Barre and were able to stretch the bras all the way across it. The event raised a lot of money for breast cancer research each year.
Kevin Kash, WWEG/WIYY: Annual Radiothon that raises money for local chapter of American Cancer Society. I also host and produce the Community Spotlight Podcast which lets listeners and clients get the word out about local events and fundraisers. Lenny Bronstein, Heavy Lenny Promotions: Back in 1976 or 1977 at A&M – I initiated the first “Dollar Concerts” (where you had to give the frequency 96 Rock-96 cents or Rock 102 – $1.02) and bring a can of food for Thanksgiving charities with the Ozark Mt. Daredevils and Joan Armatrading for the month of November and filled up a truck at every market. |
Orlando, WLLD: Community has always been a big payback for Tampa Bay embracing me, over the years, so our Toy Drive for Christmas benefits the foster children of the area, our Pink 94-1 breast cancer campaign, in October and our new initiative collab’ing with law enforcement is close to our hearts. Jonathan Reed, WNOK: I am more focused on the initiatives that I am involved in now. I am personally involved in Real Men Wear Pink with the American Cancer Society especially since my mom is fighting Breast Cancer. Every year, WNOK is involved in a yearly event called Kemopalooza to help raise money for kids that are fighting cancer. Kemopalooza allows patients to take a break from hospitals to go to Camp Kemo to be ‘kids. Josh Wolff, WAEB: Every year, the iHeart cluster in Springfield, MO has a program called Hungerthon that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Food Bank in the market. It’s sad that there’s such an overwhelming demand for this, but it’s a very gratifying experience to be a part of from the cluster’s perspective.
Sassy, WKXJ: One thing I’m very proud of within our Entercom local cluster is our Operation Good Neighbor initiative we have in times of crisis. Our 5-station cluster unifies and broadcasts important messages and information in our community outreach efforts whether it’s a tornado or earthquake or any other local emergencies. We gather non-perishable food items and get our station vehicles involved…however we can help. Jason Lachance, Stephens Media Group: Our Children’s Hospital Radiothon. |
Toby Knapp, WASH: I have to say, since being on WASH-FM, I’ve been profoundly impacted by just how much good we can do by raising funds for Children’s National in DC. You meet families – and people – who are alive today because you did something which made it possible for them to get the care they needed when it mattered most and that resonates. It changes you. Makes you thankful, grateful and aware of just how precious life is.There was a time on WIHT, however, when we partnered with Scholastic Books to read to school kids, that changed the way I think and do this “radio” thing forever. I went to Malcolm X. Middle School in Southeast DC, and sat in the middle of a gym, reading books to kids who were just so thankful and grateful someone from Hot 99-5 thought enough of them to come and read to them for an hour or so that day. Several days later, I received an email from the then-Chancellor of DC Schools thanking me for taking the time to do “something so simple” which so many “take for granted.” I found out later that they called that community “low income” and they say the kids there were in a community which was considered “at-risk.” Well, I will tell you I left richer from that experience and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Thea Mitchem was right. To be #1 in DC, you have to be #1 for ALL of DC. Let those with ears to hear… hear!
Java Joel, WAKS: Kiss/Cleveland is teaming up with DEA 360 for an Ohio Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness. Scheduled for the end of April. Expecting literally thousands of middle school and high school students to be in attendance. Entertainment, local acts and the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indians will be involved too!
Heather Deluca, WSJO: Feed A Family that my radio group Townsquare Media does locally has been a HUGE help to the community since we launched it 4 years ago. We started the fundraiser around the time of the rash of casino closings, when so many of our listeners found themselves out of work. Some households even lost both incomes because of the layoffs. Over the years we’ve been able to feed close to 1500 families for Thanksgiving.
Tommy Chuck, WFLZ: We executed a great one during my time at HOT 99.5 in DC when we renamed the station Carly 99.5 in honor of Carly Nguyen a 16-year-old with a case of acute myelogenous leukemia, and in need of a bone marrow transplant. Her school united to help find a matching donor and asked the community for help. The station also hosted cheek swabs outside the iHeartRadio building to help find the rare match. WFLZ’s MJ Morning Show did a great fundraiser for families of two Tampa police officers back in 2010, and FLZ also partnered with some big artists to launch anti-texting and driving campaigns, among other initiatives.
Todd Shannon, WAPE: Hands down, the Kidd’s Kids initiative and the impact that it’s had on families. Seeing it start in Dallas when I arrived at KHKS in 2000, and then watching it expand with the show’s syndication to other markets, and witnessing the emotional reactions from the families was really something. It’s the spirit of the project and seeing how all of the corporate sponsors have bought in for over twenty years now. In Jacksonville, where I also oversee our News/Talker 104.5/WOKV, it’s our annual Child Cancer Fund. Every year we raise money to help fund a position where their sole purpose is to spread joy and happiness to affected kids within the local hospital here. We raised so many funds that we’ve funded that position for a lifetime.
Chris Michaels, FM100: One of the things we do in the summer is we collect water for the Memphis Police Department. They have stated that it’s not in their budget to buy cases of water. We book an artist for a venue in town, and when we announce the show, one case of water will get you a ticket to the show. Listeners bring the cases of water to the station and we give them tickets until the tickets are gone. The tickets are usually gone within 2-3 days, and we raise several hundred cases of water for the Police Department.
Jill Strada, WFLC: The community is a radio station’s heartbeat and I’ve committed to giving back since the beginning of my radio career. In fact, helping others, combined with my love of music, is what made me fall in love with radio. There’s so many examples that come to mind, but since it’s fresh in my head, I’m going to recap my 2019 for you.In 2019, COX Media Group Miami, home of WEDR, WFLC, WHQT and WFEZ, gave away 150,000 pounds of food to families in need throughout the year and provided 7,000 backpacks to students for back-to-school. When the worst natural disaster to ever strike our neighbors in the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian, made landfall, we filled five semi-trucks of food & supplies to help over 1,500 families affected. We gave away over 3,000 turkeys to families in need at Thanksgiving, our employees volunteered 3,967 hours of their personal time, our station’s interviewed 1,596 community organizations and leaders, and we ran over $3,295,240 in public service announcements. Lastly, COX Media Group Miami partnered with 1,008 community organizations throughout South Florida providing them with over $4,000,000 in media support. As you can probably tell, I’m incredibly proud to be leading a team that is so passionate and very dedicated to helping change the world!
Matt Bosso, WODS: All credit goes to our team at 103.3 AMP Radio, but The TJ Show sock drive (which benefited one of the longest-running homeless shelters in Boston) has been the single-most rewarding initiative I’ve had the pleasure of being part of. Our entire staff – from on-air, to promotions, marketing, digital, and sales – worked together in November 2018 towards a goal of collecting 4,000 pairs of socks over a two-week period, and the drive finished with more than 15,000 pairs collected. The goal was raised to 24,000 pairs this past holiday season, and in the end we collected more than 40,000 pairs. Listeners are STILL sending socks to the radio station!Next Week’s Question Of The Week:
If you could experience an extended stay in a foreign Country, where would you go and what cultural aspects attract you to your destination?
e-Mail your responses to: jodorisio@deanemediasolutions.com or bburke@deanemediasolutions.com
