WNIJ 89.5 FM is pleased to announce a new fundraising project, Preserve Public Radio and Plant a Tree, which aims to raise $125,000 to protect and preserve public radio without interrupting programs.
This project, which began on Saturday, April 1, is designed to help sustain our national forests, too. WNIJ is teaming up with the National Forest Foundation and Tyler’s Landscaping to plant a tree to mark every donation to this station during this campaign. The goal: plant 1,000 trees in the public radio forest.
Staci Hoste, director and general manager of the station, explains: “Sustainability is a popular term these days, applicable to so many areas of our lives. Listeners of WNIJ care about the environment as much as they care about the quality, fact-based, in-depth journalism we provide. So, in celebration of Earth Day, we combine these sustainability initiatives and ask the public for support.”
Hoste offers another important reason for this fundraising project: “In the face of continuing [financial] uncertainty in the state of Illinois, and now a federal budget proposal calling for the elimination of funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, WNIJ will not receive the level of funding provided in previous years; therefore, we need listener support to protect and preserve public radio in our community. No one else can sustain this service. We’re committed to doing all we can to adapt to ever-changing financial circumstances, but we can’t do it without a strong community of supporters. Now is the time to give, and we thank our corporate partners, especially Tyler’s Landscaping, and every listener who already has contributed to this campaign.”
To preserve and protect public radio in your community, visit wnij.org and donate now. Those who already support the station can participate by increasing their monthly contribution or by providing an additional one-time donation.
