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Tag Archives | community service

Called to serve

Margaret in St. Joseph Catholic Church

With your support, the KNOM Radio Mission has been a presence in Western Alaska’s communities for more than four decades – and not always just through the airwaves. We’re so thrilled when our outstanding, full-time volunteers serve our region even beyond KNOM’s studio walls; news reporter Margaret DeMaioribus is one such volunteer.

Margaret, who hails from eastern Pennsylvania, has been a frequent presence in many service contexts within the Nome community: in particular, within St. Joseph Catholic Church. At St. Joseph’s, Margaret is a cantor at weekly Sunday Mass and also teaches religious education classes. In Nome, filling both of these positions can be difficult; willing and able musicians and volunteer teachers are both in short supply.

In addition to her work at St. Joseph’s (from which KNOM broadcasts weekly Sunday Mass to its rural Alaska listeners), Margaret also regularly volunteers at Nome’s local homeless shelter, serving dinners to the needy.

Thank you for making possible the service of all of our wonderful volunteers. Through your generosity, KNOM volunteers continue to endeavor to improve life in rural Alaska – even when the microphone is off.

 

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A nod for community service

Volunteers holding NAB Crystal AwardsGood news: KNOM has been informed that, in a few months, we will receive a very special award from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)!

NAB’s Crystal Award recognizes radio stations that make extraordinary contributions to the communities in their listening area. This community service award is prestigious, and over the years, KNOM has been honored to win five Crystals. The photo at right shows our current volunteers – Josh, Eva, Dayneé, Lucus, and Margaret – holding our Crystal Awards from 1987, 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2012.

In April, KNOM will be given the capstone Crystal Award, the NAB Crystal Heritage Award; we’ll be the fourth radio station ever to receive it. This award recognizes the commitment to community service that you make possible through your generosity and support. Thank you so much! We’ll have more about our 2013 Crystal in a future issue of the Static.

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Reflections from our volunteers

Lucus in Studio A

KNOM’s full-time volunteers remain hard at work, and thanks to our Volunteer Blog, you can stay up-to-date on all of the ways these outstanding, service-minded individuals are making a difference in Western Alaska. (Among other things, the blog showcases recent photos of our volunteers, a few of which are sampled above and below.)

Josh and Eva on the beachOne recent blog post from volunteer Dayneé Rosales highlighted the spirit of community that informs our mission. An excerpt:

Winter presents unique challenges for life in rural Alaska. Alcohol abuse and suicide are big issues here. It’s hard on a lot of families, but there are also people who want to help.

What I like most about Nome is the amount of courage and love I see in the community… I see how willing people are to share their game, invite you in their homes, and share their stories.

Nome and KNOM are becoming my home… I am forming amazing friendships and learning to appreciate what everyone must do for a city or village to not only survive, but flourish, despite whatever comes our way.

Thanks so much for supporting our volunteer program! Every day, you are truly making a difference.

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Anticipating a prestigious award

Great news!

The National Association of Broadcasters has officially announced that KNOM will receive the 2013 NAB Crystal Heritage Award; it’s the broadcasting organization’s capstone award recognizing outstanding commitment to community service.

We congratulate and thank all who have helped KNOM garner such a prestigious honor. Our radio station is only the fourth ever to receive the Crystal Heritage Award, and the entire KNOM staff is all smiles. We are blessed with wonderful support that allows us to produce programming that receives such national recognition.

We thank everyone who helps to make this possible, and as always, we share this award with you.

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At year’s end, gratitude and service

As 2012 comes to an end, we thank the entire KNOM family for keeping positive programming beaming to thousands of families. Your support affects listeners across 100,000 square miles of snow-covered tundra and the frozen Bering Sea. The KNOM staff and volunteers appreciate the opportunity to serve remote listeners, 24 hours a day!

We wish you could see the young, enthusiastic volunteers recording, editing, and producing inspirational spots, PSAs, news stories, interviews, music, and many other radio programs. These young professionals work tirelessly to make a positive difference throughout Western Alaska. As we have said in the past, KNOM lights the fire of their desire to make a difference in the lives of everyone. We also remember all the past volunteers and staff that helped build up the KNOM radio ministry.

In recognition of all who donate, pray, volunteer, and help KNOM, we offer our gratitude: thank you, and all best wishes for a healthy, happy, and very blessed 2013.

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Congrats to the news crew!

Margaret and Eva hold Goldie Awards

It’s an exciting time for our mission: our news team is the recipient of two highly-coveted awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association (ABA)!

The ABA Goldie Awards recognize excellence in radio and TV broadcasting across the state of Alaska, and in November, the organization honored KNOM news with awards in the categories “Service to Children” and “Service to Community.”

Both awards specifically recognize news shows produced by KNOM’s former volunteer public affairs director, Matthew Smith, who served our mission from 2010 through earlier this year. Winning the awards were Matthew’s news feature on the personal stories of Nome 8th graders and his radio spots on a mysterious disease that affected some seals in Alaskan waters this year. (The marine mammals have a special place in the subsistence lifestyle that is at the heart of our region’s traditional culture, making Matthew’s reporting not just timely but, also, vitally important.)

We share these latest awards with you: congratulations, and thanks so much for making possible the crucially-needed reporting that KNOM news does every day. Holding our latest Goldies, above, are our current news volunteers – Margaret DeMaioribus and Eva DeLappe – whose work, thanks to you, continues the standards of excellence our mission has maintained for more than 40 years. To hear one of Matt’s award-winning programs, head on over to our news page.

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Weather reports, and two more Goldie awards

2012 Goldies

Please pray with us for KNOM friends and family in areas struck by Hurricane Sandy. We pray for a rapid recovery for the devastated communities. May God watch over them as they rebuild.

As our temperatures approach zero, the blustery winds remind us how treacherous the weather can be — day or night. KNOM continues to broadcast timely winter weather warnings and watches every hour of the day to everyone in western Alaska. These critical reports save lives. Our thanks to all who make KNOM possible.

Wonderful news! The Alaska Broadcasters Association has bestowed upon KNOM two more Goldie Awards for broadcast excellence (pictured above). Both awards recognize work done by KNOM volunteer alumnus Matthew Smith, whose produced pieces for the KNOM news department won Goldies in the categories of “Service to Community” and “Service to Children.”

Both of these categories are highly valued in ABA’s annual awards. As always, we share these exciting honors with you and with everyone who makes our mission possible. To our donors, supporters, volunteers, staff, and community members: thank you, and congratulations!

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Meet Lucus

Lucus Keppel, KNOM’s new volunteer producer, comes to our mission with a breadth of experience in travel, academic study, broadcasting, ministry, and community service.

The Michigan native has lived in Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois, and Jakarta, Indonesia, and he’s now happy to call Alaska home. His tenure at our mission is hardly his first experience in broadcasting or technology: from Central Michigan University, Lucus earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast and cinematic arts with a minor in theatre and interpretation (in 2005) and a master’s degree in electronic media management (2007). He also founded an audio theatre troupe and taught the practice of radio drama to students with little or no experience in the art form.

Most recent among Lucus’ academic achievements is his master’s in divinity from Louisville Seminary. His theological background is a boon to our community: Lucus is active in the Nome Ministerial Association.

At KNOM, Lucus is putting his diverse experience to wonderful use; he writes and produces our inspirational spots. Welcome, Lucus!

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August 1992: A thank-you from the governor

Ermalee and Walter Hickel

Former Alaska governor Walter Hickel (right) and wife Ermalee Hickel, photographed in Anchorage, Alaska in 2008.

August 2, 1992

A letter arrives out of the blue from Alaska governor Walter Hickel. “Thank you for your generous commitment and devotion to the communities in the Nome area,” He writes. “Your radio broadcasts are really making a difference.” The governor and his wife are annual KNOM contributors.

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