Nachum Segal and I have always prided ourselves on being able to support Jewish Moments in the Morning with only one pledge drive a year. While most public radio stations interrupt their programming every few months, WFMU has always managed to maintain itself with one annual fundraiser.
But that was before the great recession. Before we fell over $100,000 short of our goal during our March fundraiser. And before we lost our lease on our main transmitter site and set out to put an antenna in mid-town Manhattan.
That's why we're setting aside our pride for a few hours for our first, and hopefully last, emergency 1-day fundraiser. On Wednesday, November 18th from 6-9am Nachum will be holding down the fort for JM in the AM's first 1-day Emergency Marathon as we be try to raise enough money in one day to keep the Jewish music and culture flowing until next Spring.
This is only the third time in WFMU's 51 years on the air that we've taken the drastic measure of interrupting our programming, even briefly, outside of our annual March Marathon. The first two times happened when our old owner, Upsala College, declared bankruptcy, sending WFMU into financial shock. Our 1-day JM in the AM Emergency Marathon is meant to ensure that WFMU doesn't meet that same fate.
But rest assured that the morning of November 18th will still be the fun listening experience that Nachum's marathons always are. We also have a brand new JM in the AM duffle bag to offer you for your pledge of $72 or more.
As of this writing, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to secure a new lease for our 91.1 FM transmitter site, and I'm working hard to resolve some final issues with our New York City booster antenna. On the online front, we're still making great progress, having just launched a JM in the AM iPhone app, making it easier than ever to listen to our Jewish music live stream from anywhere.
WFMU and JM in the AM have been in financial hot water before, and the support of our listeners has always bailed us out. I'm confident that you'll come through for us again this time, either during our 1-day Marathon, or with a pledge from this brochure or via our website.
Thanks. I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Ken Freedman, Station Manager
