The second annual Bull Country Community Cares Radio-A-Thon met its $10,000 goal on Oct. 11.
The 30-hour broadcast was a fundraiser for 35 local non-profit organizations including Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, Circle of Caring, Families Together of the Palouse, Friendly Neighbors Senior Center and the Idaho Food Bank.
The event was sponsored by Sam Dial Jewelers, as well as Washington Trust Bank, The Daily Grind Espresso, American West Bank, Zeppoz and Mr. Z’s Casino, Washington State Employees Credit Union and C & L Locker Co.
The United Way of Moscow and Latah County helped distribute the money raised from the broadcast to the non-profit agencies. The organizations had to apply through United Way and meet their criteria to be included in the event.
Last year, Radio-A-Thon’s initial goal was only $2,000. Cretia Bunney, executive director for United Way of Moscow and Latah County, said they were able to reach their goal within four hours of starting the broadcast last year, and were able to make a large impact on the organizations.
The first Radio-A-Thon was able to help United Way reach their long-term goal of $70,000.
“It’s all them,” Bunney said. “They do all this work for these non-profits. And in the end, they do such a good job and raise a ton of money for some really good causes.”
This year, it took the entire broadcast and over 100 separate donations to meet the $10,000 goal, but the goal was met nonetheless.
“It came down to the final seconds, but we made our goal,” said Jon Carson, promotions director for Inland Northwest Broadcasting. “It felt great. It was really reassuring to me and the station that we could do it.”
The broadcast included interviews with volunteers from the 35 non-profit agencies and their causes. Carson said he thought this portion is what would keep a lot of listeners interested, because it added another dimension with the volunteers to speak about what their organizations actually do to help the community.
University of Idaho Interim President Don Burnett and Bill Moos, athletic director for Washington State University, also made appearances in the broadcast for promotional commercials.
“Some of the highlights for me was an individual anonymous donor gave $1,000 alone, our largest single pledge,” Carson said. “We also were able to raise $775 in pre-pledge money before the event had even begun. There was some fun co-hosting going on between people, and all through the broadcast we had businesses competing against each other to donate the most money, just like last year, which is what we wanted.”
With the success of the 2013 Radio-A-Thon, talk of continuing the tradition next year has already begun.
“We’re optimistic about next year,” Carson said. “We’ve already set a date, and we’re still deciding whether or not we ought to raise our goal amount.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at[email protected]