KOPN SINGS: Non-profit CoMo radio station raises big bucks, gets matching grant

Donations pour in to news, music staple

COLUMBIA, Mo 10/16/18 (PSA) -- A campaign that raised over $150,000 in 100 days has qualified Columbia-based KOPN radio for an additional $70,000 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

The non-profit radio station raised roughly $170,000, and will receive the CPB grant in 2019.

"We were expecting to be notified of whether we would receive the grant in November, but they called and let us know we will," said KOPN general manager Sean Spence.  "It is pretty exciting."

The fundraising effort started in June, when CPB notified the station of their grant eligibility if they raised $300,000 by the end of the 2018  fiscal year.

"That left just over one hundred days to raise an additional $150,000, considered a stretch by KOPN leadership," Spence explained.  The station raised $170,000 during the entire 2017 fiscal year. 

KOPN supporters led the effort. Steve Calloway, Bruce Gordon, Trevor Harris, Susan Hart, Richard King, Diana Moxon, Vicky Riback Wilson, Margie Sable, and Karl Skala joined the KOPN board of directors, staff, and other volunteers.

"It has been very uplifting to see the mid-Missouri community come together in support of KOPN," board president Dan Hemmelgarn said.  "The station is supported every day by many volunteers, and the community stepping up with needed financial support affirms the value of all those volunteers."

At 89.5 on the FM dial and online, KOPN offers a variety of news, talk, music, and information.