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KPFA RAISES $130,000 FOR HAITI
SETS ALL-TIME FUNDRAISING RECORD

(Berkeley, CA – January 20, 2009) Pacifica radio station KPFA in Berkeley, California is no stranger to on-air fundraising – it’s been running off listener donations since it debuted as the world’s first listener-sponsored radio station in 1949. But the response to KPFA’s one-day Haiti fundraiser took even the station’s managers by surprise.

“In this economy, we would expect a normal day of fundraising to bring in about $45,000. For our Haiti fundraiser we set a goal of $100,000” says KPFA General Manager Lemlem Rijio. “By the time our phone room closed at 8:PM, we had raised over $130,000.

“$130,000 in 13 hours — That’s an all-time record for KPFA.”

Normally, it’s illegal for noncommercial broadcasters like KPFA to raise money for other organizations. But after major disasters – 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and now, the earthquake that has devastated Haiti – the FCC makes exceptions. When the agency announced last week it would issue waivers to broadcasters fundraising for Haiti relief, Rijio put in an application and got the word out to the largely volunteer staff of KPFA.

“We organized the fund drive over the course of a three-day holiday weekend. The people we normally pay to coordinate our pledge room knew that the station is strapped for cash right now – so they all volunteered their time. DJs and program hosts came in to help answer phones. And it’s a good thing they did, because every time we asked for donations, our listeners filled every phone line we have coming into the building,” Rijio said. “I’m awed by the way our community has come together.”

Donations from the one-day drive will be split evenly between two organizations which have been saving lives in areas where other relief organizations have been unable or unwilling to go. Doctors Without Borders has established ten operating theatres in Haiti – including one in Port Au Prince’s sprawling Cite Soleil slum. Partners in Health, which has been working in Haiti for over 20 years to address the root causes of disease, warned yesterday that as many as 20,000 injured per day could be dying of infections like gangrene and sepsis.

“Because of the coverage KPFA has been carrying since the earthquake, we’d had listeners calling in who want to help, but didn’t know what organizations to give to,” said Rijio. “We chose Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health because both have long track records in Haiti. They’re already delivering assistance and saving lives. Their work has earned the respect of the Haiti solidarity community. And they’ve received the highest rankings possible from organizations that rate charities on their financial effectiveness.”

Over the years, KPFA has distinguished itself with in-depth independent reporting on various crises in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. In stark contrast to much coverage in the mainstream media, coverage on KPFA has highlighted the resiliency of the Hatian people in the face of this enormous crisis, the relative calm in the affected areas, and problems with the militarization of the international response in Haiti.
KPFA will continue to take Haiti relief pledges through its website, kpfa.org, through Sunday, January 24th.