Licensed to Serve | A Chronicle of Broadcasters' Community Service

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Licensed to Serve – October 2013

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NAB's Licensed to Serve newsletter provides a sample of noteworthy stories that illustrate the many public service activities broadcasters organize on any given day across the country. From arranging record-breaking toy and food drives to providing free air time for political campaign coverage, broadcasters' continual commitment to their communities is showcased in Licensed to Serve.

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Click here to learn more about broadcasters' community service initiatives and nonprofit partnerships.

Send Us Your Stories
If your station has a great public service campaign that should be recognized, email Allison Kreutzjans, manager, Public Service Initiatives or call (202) 429-5448 with details.
Follow NAB Public Service Initiatives on Twitter: @BroadlyServing.

Over the last several weeks, Colorado residents witnessed historic flooding as rain poured down on the state for several days straight. Throughout the flood, radio and TV broadcasters served as lifelines for Colorado residents, providing emergency information including weather updates, evacuation announcements, road closures, information on the changing flood stage and the recovery efforts. All Access outlined several ways broadcasters stepped up to help their local communities, while the Denver Post explained how broadcasters utilized social media in their storm coverage.
Broadcasters Raise More Than $1 Million to Aid Colorado Flood Victims
Colorado Broadcasters Raise More Than $1.1 Million for Flood Victims The Colorado Broadcasters Association partnered with its member broadcast stations and the Red Cross to host "Colorado Flood Relief," a live fundraiser to support the American Red Cross, the local Community Food Share, the Food Bank for Larimer County and the Weld Food Bank in their relief efforts. The stations that helped promote the fundraiser included Community Radio for Northern Colorado's KUNC-FM, Gannett's NBC affiliate KUSA-TV Denver, Scripps's ABC affiliate KMGH-TV Denver, Gray Television's CBS affiliate KKTV-TV Colorado Springs and its NBC affiliate KKCO-TV Grand Junction, News-Press Gazette's ABC affiliate KJCT-TV Grand Junction, CBS-owned KCNC-TV Denver, Local TV-owned Fox affiliate KDVR-TV Denver, Tribune's CW affiliate KWGN-TV Denver and Telemundo's KDEN-TV Denver, among others. The Colorado Flood Relief fundraiser raised more than $1 million in one night for Coloradans in need.
Broadcasters Support Children in Their Local Communities
CBS Radio's WIP-FM Raises $183,000 for Philadelphia Kids CBS Radio's WIP-FM Philadelphia teamed with the Philadelphia Eagles to host the two-day Eagles Radiothon. The live broadcast event raised $183,000 for the Eagles Youth Partnership, an organization that supports programs that serve over 50,000 children in the Philadelphia community every year. Marc Rayfield, senior vice president/market manager, CBS Radio Philadelphia, said, "We are proud and fortunate to be able to partner with the Eagles and give back to the community with the help of generous WIP listeners and Eagles fans."	Hubbard's WTMX-FM Raises $1.4 Million for Children's Hospital Hubbard Broadcasting's WTMX-FM Chicago hosted the 14th Annual "Eric and Kathy" Radiothon to support the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. With help from several local sports celebrities and area businesses, the 14-hour event raised more than $1.4 million dollars for the hospital. All the proceeds will be used for pediatric research, patient care, education and advocacy efforts. Since 2000, the radiothon has raised more than $23 million for Lurie Children's Hospital.
Bold Gold Media's WDNB-FM Raises $38,000+ for St. Jude Bold Gold Media's WDNB-FM Liberty, N.Y., hosted the third annual Country Cares for St. Jude's Kids Radiothon, a fundraising event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to help in the fight against childhood cancer. The two-day event, broadcast live on WDNB-FM, raised more than $38,000, with donations from listeners, local businesses and a local casino and raceway.	Univision Radio Dallas Raises $762,000 with St. Jude Radiothon Univision Radio's KLNO-FM Dallas won the coveted St. Jude's Radio Partner of the Year, Promesa y Esperanza Award for raising $762,000 for the 2013 campaign during the station's annual radiothon. Over the past 15 years, KLNO-FM has raised more than $6 million for the local hospital. All proceeds go directly to research, patient treatments and hospital costs.
CBS Radio Contributes $170,000 to Blessings in a Backpack CBS Radio has teamed with the CBS EcoMedia program to provide more than $170,000 in financial support to children through Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that works to ensure elementary school children are fed during the weekend while they are away from school. Blessings in a Backpack collects and packages backpacks full of food and distributes them on Fridays to children who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Participating CBS stations include those in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.
Broadcasters Launch Campaigns to Improve Community Life
Univision's WLTV-TV Makes Strides During National Citizenship Day To support National Citizenship Day on September 17, Univision's WLTV-TV Miami partnered with the Florida International University Law Department's citizenship clinic, Hispanic Unity of Florida, Read2Succeed and Catholic Legal Services to provide guidance on the naturalization process and help with the N-400 application. WLTV-TV hosted local workshops to encourage legal permanent residents to apply for U.S. citizenship during National Citizenship Week. In addition, WLTV-TV hosted a phone bank, fielding more than 2,000 calls with questions related to citizenship. As a result, more than 300 applications were processed and additional workshops are being scheduled to assist the rest of the viewers that called into the station.
Belo's WFAA-TV Helps Local Organizations Raise $25 Million Belo's ABC affiliate WFAA-TV Dallas served as the media sponsor for the fifth annual Communities Foundation of Texas's North Texas Giving Day. Each year the Foundation hosts a day when people around the world can donate to North Texas-based nonprofits. WFAA-TV raised awareness about the day with coverage during the station's news segments and with a series of PSAs. This year, WFAA-TV's efforts helped the Foundation raise $25.2 million for 1,351 local charities.	Sinclair's KVAL-TV Raises $695,000 for American Cancer Society Sinclair Broadcasting's CBS affiliate KVAL-TV Eugene, Ore., served as the media sponsor for the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Relay for Life of Eugene, Springfield and the surrounding Oregon counties. KVAL-TV donated more than $47,000 in airtime to ACS's PSAs. Additionally, the station aired numerous stories and programming packages about the Relay. On race day more than 30 employees and their families participated in the walk which raised more than $695,000 for ACS.
Three Milwaukee Radio Stations Partner to End Local Violence Following a summer with a heightened level of violence, three urban music radio stations in Milwaukee, Saga Communications' WJMR-FM, Clear Channel's WKKV-FM and Courier Communications' WNOV-AM joined together to launch the "Urban Radio United for Peace" PSA campaign. Laurie Jones, WJMR-FM's brand manager said, "Our stations share many listeners. So it makes sense for the stations to be united and consistent in our message. As listeners flip around the dial, they are going to hear our message, regardless of which station they tune into."
Congressional PSA Campaign Only 10 weeks remain to run NAB’s 2013 Congressional Public Service Announcements featuring your member of Congress. This year, a record 244 member of Congress and their families from 46 states are featured in NAB’s 2013 campaign. Click here to see if your member participated and to download the spots. The PSAs are available to air through the end of the year. This program is a great opportunity to provide valuable information to your viewers and listeners, while fostering relationships with Congress and reminding legislators of the enduring power of free and local broadcasting. For more information, please contact Allison Kreutzjans at akreutzjans@nab.org or (202) 429-5448.
Broadcasters Host Debates to Keep Voters Informed
NBC's WRC-TV Hosts Virginia Gubernatorial Debate NBC-owned WRC-TV Washington partnered with the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce to host a debate between Virginia's gubernatorial candidates, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and businessman Terry McAuliffe. The debate was moderated by NBC News' National Political Director Chuck Todd and aired at 7 p.m. on September 25.	Shurz's WDBJ-TV to Host Third Gubernatorial Debate Shurz Communications' CBS affiliate WDBJ-TV Roanoke, Va., and Virginia Tech announced they will host a third debate between the candidates running in Virginia's gubernatorial race on October 24. The debate will be broadcast live from the Blacksburg campus and will also be shown on Gannett's CBS affiliate WUSA-TV Washington.
Broadcasters Support Their Own
Nevada Broadcasters Foundation Raises $40,000 in Scholarships The Nevada Broadcasters Foundation raised $40,000 for the Tony and Linda Bonnici Broadcasters Scholarship Program during auctions held at its Hall of Fame Gala. More than 600 people attended the event held at the Red Rock Casino.	BFOA Raises $235,000 During Annual Celebrity Golf Tournament The Broadcasters Foundation of America (BFOA) raised $235,000 at its annual Celebrity Golf Tournament. This year, the tournament raised 18 percent more than last year. BFOA expects to provide more than $850,000 to broadcasters in need over the next year.