KMUN Raises $16K to fund emergency generators

Staff and volunteers at KMUN radio in Astoria are celebrating after a successful one day pledge drive that raised $11,000 to buy new back-up emergency generators for the community radio station.

KMUN General Manager Joanne Rideout said the need was great and the community, and a generous grantor, responded.

Rideout said an important part of the station's mission is emergency response, something the organization plans for and keeps as a high priority. But recent necessary expenditures on other vital equipment have spent down the small nonprofit's contingency fund. While Rideout is in the process of writing equipment grants to keep the station resilient, the money was just not there when the station experienced its own emergency.

She said the station was very fortunate to get a matching grant from the (Oregon-based) Samuel S. Johnson Foundation for $5,000, usng that as an incentive to encourage people to contribute during a one-day pledge drive on July 19.

KMUN's listeners responded. By late morning, the station had matched the $5,000, and by the end of the day, the group had raised $11,000 in donations. That coupled with the Johnson Foundation grant, equaled $16,000, just about exactly what will be needed to pay for the generator project.