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WNIJ News exceeds fundraising target

April 25, 2017

WNIJ 89.5 FM is pleased to announce a successful fundraising project that exceeded its $125,000 goal. This project, which began April 1, and ended on Earth Day (April 22), was designed to help sustain our national forests, too. WNIJ will plant a tree to mark every donation to this station as part of this campaign, which will ultimately result in 1,203 trees planted in one of the country’s national forests.

WNIJ 89.5 FM is one of two non-commercial public broadcasting radio stations managed by Northern Public Radio, the broadcast arm of Northern Illinois University, and provides independent, local, national and international news.

Staci Hoste, director and general manager of the station, expressed gratitude: “Listeners demonstrated their commitment to WNIJ with meaningful words and actions. They donated a total of $155,247 to the station and, in many instances, their financial support was paired with comments reflecting their sense of shared responsibility for the service.”

A listener from Cortland, IL, explained why he supports WNIJ: “It means I have a media in my life with relatively less corporate control, a diverse array of programming and helps foster a healthy community.” Another listener from Union, IL, called the station with this assessment: “The voice of reason and civility in a time when simple, factual news is at a premium.” Many others described it as their “window to the world.”

WNIJ thanks the National Forest Foundation, Tyler’s Landscaping, corporate partners and all donors to this campaign. Hoste acknowledges, “We can’t provide this important service without a strong community of supporters to protect and preserve public radio in northern Illinois.”

In the face of continuing uncertainty in the state of Illinois, and now a federal budget proposal calling for the elimination of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, WNIJ is unlikely to receive the level of funding provided in previous years. Hoste reflects, “It’s reassuring to know our listeners trust and value our work to the extent that they protect it with their investment when we call on them.”