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A moment of need

Dear friend of KNOM,

Rarely have we needed your help more than we do now.

We know you hold our mission dear, so we want you to know the extent of our difficult circumstances.

For a variety of reasons – including the passing of many dear friends and supporters – the financial standing of KNOM Radio Mission has taken a severe downturn. In the months since Christmas, our donated income has fallen at an unexpected and staggering rate.

To put it simply, our funds are in very short supply, to the extent that drastic measures may need to be taken in the future.

As with the many struggles we have faced from KNOM’s inception through today, we plan to meet this financial challenge. Indeed, we intend not just to endure these hard times but, also, to emerge from them an even more effective, efficient, and energized organization – an organization worthy of your pride and support.

Initial pleas for help have been positive and extremely encouraging, but we need your help to sustain the momentum. We ask that you stand with us, whether through your prayers, your thoughts, or your financial gifts.

Within KNOM’s walls, we are already taking many steps to actively address our financial shortage. We’ve reduced expenses to a “shoestring” budget; we’ve accelerated our efforts to enhance our online giving; and we’ve drawn up a contingency plan in the event that our finances do not improve.

As you’ll read here, we’ve also begun to accept unwanted gift cards as a means of giving to KNOM. These cards will help sustain our crucially-needed mission in this challenging time and beyond.

Meanwhile, the work of our mission – to serve the communities of Western Alaska – is as vibrant as ever. In this month’s newsletter, we hope you’ll discover just what a difference your support makes.

Longtime readers of the Static know that KNOM consciously tries to remain positive and upbeat in everything we do. Unfortunately, this positive communication may sometimes, unintentionally, give the impression that we are self-sufficient. In all aspects of our mission, however, KNOM is fully dependent upon the generosity of others.

So it is that we humbly turn to you and ask for your prayers, that people with the means to help our radio mission will join us in serving our Arctic neighbors.

Thank you for all you do. Together, our mission radiates hope.

 

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A special honor

NAB Crystal Heritage Award

As you may have read in an earlier Static, KNOM was recently selected by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to receive a rare award.

KNOM has been honored five times with NAB’s Crystal Award, recognizing the dedication of our mission and our supporters to community service. This April, NAB recognized our mission again with the NAB Crystal Heritage Award (pictured). We’re only the fourth radio station ever to receive it – and the first religious station. As always, we share this great honor with you – since you make possible everything we do!

 

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Love

Love multiplies joy and divides grief.

 

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In the wind

Eva and Margaret

You’ll often find KNOM’s dedicated news team – including volunteers Eva DeLappe and Margaret DeMaioribus, pictured – reporting on location in Nome, despite our region’s often-inclement weather. Last month, however, the news was the weather.

As Margaret reported, a shifting wind pattern called Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) has been at least partly to blame for this year’s exceptionally cold spring weather – cold even by Alaskan standards. Margaret’s report came on the heels of a mid-May blizzard that left inches of new snow in its wake.

Through your support, listeners throughout the Alaskan Bush not only received their much-needed weather report – they also learned why the weather wasn’t quite as warm as they expected.

 

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Engineer’s corner: “Shake, shake, shake”

Rolland in the engineering room

As promised in last month’s edition of the Static, we’re happy to present the latest on KNOM’s equipment and technical issues with a new segment – the Engineer’s Corner – courtesy of volunteer engineer Rolland Trowbridge:

On one morning in early May, the transmitter-to-studio data link, or TSL, quit working. This link allows volunteers at the studio to know the health of KNOM’s AM transmitter without having to go to the transmitter site (located several miles outside Nome, on the tundra near the edge of the ocean). The link is the only warning that something is wrong at the transmitter, and on this day, the link was mute.

I drove out to the site, walked the last quarter mile over thigh-deep snow, and found that the TSL (transmitter link) was not getting power, and neither was the backup power supply that protects the link. The circuit breaker wasn’t blown, so I plugged the transmitter link into another outlet, and just like that, I had everything running again – except that I didn’t know what had happened to the bad outlet.

The next day, I took the outlet cover off and found all the screws to the outlet were loose. I picked another random outlet that wasn’t being used and checked the terminal screws on it, and two of them were loose. Shaken loose.

The transmitter site bears the brunt of the intense winds that are so frequently whipped up from the Bering Sea. I have been in the building with 60-knot winds, and it literally shakes. Everything in that building gets rattled.

This requires extra diligence. Every year, we take sections of the transmitter and tighten every connector in them to prevent loose wires that burn up. Now, I am adding all the outlets and wiring to that list and putting them on a tightening schedule.

This is all part of doing ministry in this corner of God’s world, and I thank you for your support.

 

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Have and have not

To be upset over what we do not have is to waste what God has given us.

 

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By the numbers

As we’ve written before, we’re making every effort to cut costs in the midst of our financial challenges. Since our first broadcast in 1971, KNOM has always been mindful of the need to economize, but despite our best efforts, Nome remains an expensive place to live and to run a radio station.

An hour of electricity for KNOM’s facilities costs $9.80. Heat costs $28.33 per day. Broadcasting Sunday Mass – a vital part of our weekly programming – costs $131.92. And feeding one full-time KNOM volunteer costs $300 per month.

Now more than ever, each and every contribution makes an impact in the life of our mission. As always, thank you for your support.

 

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Re-connecting with family

Twin sisters Eva and Sarah DeLappe

Volunteer Eva DeLappe (pictured, left) had a special guest earlier this spring: her twin sister Sarah (right), who spent a week visiting Nome. The week included a special celebration: both sisters’ birthday.

The two also co-hosted an on-air music show, went snowshoeing near Nome, and traveled together to the community of Unalakleet (YOU-nuh-luh-kleet) to report on the Native Youth Olympics, a popular local sporting event. Sarah also donated some time within our studios, contributing her voice to the educational “spots,” or PSAs, that KNOM produces.

Visits like these help to bolster the spirits of our intrepid volunteers, and they help to make our vitally-needed volunteer program possible. Welcome, Sarah!

 

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“Re-gift” for KNOM!

Have you received a gift card (such as to Target or Best Buy) that you don’t need? KNOM is now accepting gift cards as a means of supporting our mission.

We’ll use the cards for essential station supplies or trade them in for cash at a discount. Supporters can mail cards one at a time or in a batch; cards must have a minimum of $10 in value.

For more details, visit this page – or, call (907-443-5221) or write us.

 

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