Hello CKUA Friends,
I am enthused and honoured to work with the passionate listeners, generous donors and the dedicated staff of CKUA, a cultural treasure seeded in Alberta with roots grown deep over 93 years of broadcasting.
CKUA has created a unique soundtrack that reaches out to enrich every corner of Alberta, and now in the digital age, the world. I tuned into CKUA while at school in Edmonton in 1975. I was always listening. When I went to work, as I was driving my pickup truck to rig sites to deliver rock bits, I revelled in jazz bits from Bill Coull.
I wanted to share the musical introductions and new sounds I was hearing every day. It could not be found anywhere else. It remains so today, with local, Alberta and Canadian artists always on the CKUA playlist. For 45 years, I have had a close friend in CKUA. What a gift.
This 2020 CKUA Fall Fundraising campaign comes at a time when we are all stretched to sustain those things that matter most to us. It is hard. At work and home, we have to focus on the well-being of a closer, more intimate social circle. CKUA is part of your social circle. CKUA takes the forced distance between us and brings us closer. It builds connection and joy.
Unfortunately, the station that I care so deeply about has struggled to meet its funding needs for years. We have been getting by, but not getting ahead. The changing nature of the media business, the roller coaster ride that is the economy, and the crippling blow of COVID-19 to so many companies, including CKUA, has highlighted immediate and near-term funding challenges.
The new Board of Directors highlighted its deep concerns this spring, even in the shadow of the most successful fundraising campaign in over twenty years. We were elected this August in a wave of change at CKUA to help address these challenges.
As part of this change, the message is clear: Can you dig deep for CKUA?
We are all in. It matters that much to us.
As I write this, I am listening to Terry David Mulligan, as he chats with Bahamas on this 2020 Thanksgiving Weekend. What a station – one that I want to be as vital and meaningful for my boys, as it was for me when I was their age.
We are lucky people when we listen and stand together. The CKUA connection makes me more hopeful and grateful than ever. Please join me and do the best you can as we strive to reach our one million dollar goal.
With sincere best wishes to you,
Lindsay Hood