Not surprisingly all the radio news this week has been about natural disasters – the floods in Queensland, but mainly the bushfires in Victoria. While all Victorian regional stations have been in the thick of it, others around Australia have lent support. Here are just three more markets from NSW, ACT and Tassie eager to lend a hand…
Both Canberra FM, MIX 106.3 and 104.7, joined forces to garner support from the Canberra community. Over 3 days, 14 shipping containers full of vital supplies plus 2 semi trailers full of food were donated and packed on-site at the radio station to be sent to Victoria, through the help of over 150 local volunteers.
The convoy leaves Canberra for the Salvos Central Depot in Clayton on Friday.
Click here for photos of the past few days at the station plus a video clip.
96.5 WAVE FM Wollongong’s Bigger Breakfast team of Greg , Dave and Jade kicked off a 50 hour on air marathon from 5am this morning (Wednesday 11 Feb 2009).
WAVE’s Jade Papesch says the idea was to go all out to raise cash for the victims, “Through our sister Station Easy Mix Bendigo, we learned that cash is the main thing the relief workers on the ground need to help the victims of the tragic bushfires. Our primary focus is going to be on raising as much money as we can from our listeners across the Illawarra.”
Co hosts Dave Gorr and Greg Vincent chimed in to say they have challenged morning personality Dave “Stretto” Stretton to go suburb by suburb and build WAVE’s Kilometre of Coins. “We’re taking over his on air show so it only seemed appropriate we sent him out on a mission.”
The Bigger Breakfast Team will be supported by WAVE’s on air personalities for the nonstop 50 hours with Dave Clark and Steve Fox also taking part cooking breakfast and serving lunch around up and down the Illawarra Coast.
Meanwhile in Tasmanian, Launceston’s, LAFM, kicked off a major push for the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. The LAFM breakfast team, along with the afternoon announcer, staged a marathon 12-hour stint behind the microphone encouraging listeners and local businesses to contribute to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal created to help victims of Australia’s latest natural disaster.
The response was overwhelming from the people of Launceston and surrounding areas raising a grand total of $134,891 which is to be donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
LAFM’s General Manager Colin Taylor said, “I would like to give special recognition of the efforts from the entire LAFM crew including the breakfast team of Mel Hope and Greg Allan and the afternoon announcer Lee Dixon during the marathon 12-hour broadcast. I would also like to recognise the enormous effort of the entire LAFM staff and most importantly the biggest thankyou is reserved for the generous listeners in Launceston and surrounds. Nothing replaces the cost of human life, but I, along with my entire staff am proud of the generous result achieved. We hope in some small measure that this staggering result goes someway to making life a little more comfortable for our fellow Aussies in this time of national tragedy.”
Mel Hope and Greg Allan said“We are just in awe of the generosity of the clothing, toys, blood and money from the people of Launceston and the surrounding area. We knew the people of northern Tasmania were generous but we did not anticipate the level of giving and care from this community for such a worthwhile cause.”