Stations Fulfill Last Wishes

Topic: Community-Focused Initiatives

If you could have one wish, what would it be? This is the question stations KROE-AM, KWYO-AM, KZWY-FM, KYTI-FM and KLQQ-FM in Sheridan, Wyo., pose to listeners each year during their annual "Christmas Wish" effort. Overwhelmingly, the requests that come in are for a neighbor, a friend or a loved one in need. Now in its 10th year, the program has provided everything from a new mattress for an elderly man who had slept on the same one for 30 years to groceries for a family of four facing large medical bills. In the first years of the program, the station selected 10 wishes and granted one a day during the days leading up to Christmas. As the program has grown, in addition to 10 days of wishes broadcast on air, the station fulfills as many additional requests as possible. In 2007, the combination of hard work from the stations’ staff and donations from individuals and businesses made it possible to deliver 34 Christmas wishes involving 28 families and 93 children. According to Kim Love, general manager of the five stations, the real impact of the effort was brought home when his wife was approached at church by a woman who told her, "My family and I were recipients of a ‘Christmas Wish.’ I can’t tell you how much this meant to us. It gave us hope. Thank you."

Read more stories on Community-Focused Initiatives »