University of Minnesota Moment: "River of Relief"

Transcription

[Announcer]: I'm Rick Moore with the University of Minnesota Moment. On Friday the Minnesota Broadcasters Association held the "Storm Aid: River of Relief" radiothon on the University of Minnesota campus to benefit the American Red Cross. More than 25 Twin Cities and 75 greater Minnesota radio stations participated. Jim du Bois, organizer of the event, explains why Minnesota radio held the fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

[du Bois]: We recognized this was an unprecedented disaster and it merited, certainly, an unprecedented response. So, the broadcasters in the Twin Cities area had discussed what they could do to aid the storm victims. It was then decided that we ought to also include all radio stations throughout Minnesota. So the idea of "Storm Aid: River of Relief" came about shortly after the magnitude of the disaster was known to us. We chose the Mississippi River for symbolic reasons. Clearly, the headwaters of the river are here in Minnesota and we share that commonality with the folks in the gulf.

[Moore]: In Minnesota history, radio stations have done benefits, but as du Bois explains, we haven't seen anything like this before.

[du Bois]: Not to this magnitude, no. There have been radiothons here and there and there have been a number of stations in certain markets that have come together during times of need in their communities. We've never seen such an outpouring of support from radio stations throughout Minnesota as we have for this event.

[Moore]: For the University of Minnesota Moment, I'm Rick Moore.