The Wichita Radio Reading Service has received a $5,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Company to support WRRS outreach.The grant was awarded through the Weyerhaeuser Foundation鈥檚 community program.
The check was presented to Sharon Powell Quincy, WRRS development board member, with an accompanying letter from Foundation President Karen M. Johnson. Johnson wrote, 鈥淲e applaud the work you are doing for your community, and it is a pleasure to be among your current supporters.鈥�
The outreach project will enable WRRS to expand community services by implementing a directed effort to 鈥済et the word out.鈥� WRRS has been serving southern Kansas for more than 30 years, yet few people are aware of this free community service that delivers information to eligible people who have problems reading small print.
The project鈥檚 focus is promoting WRRS through print media advertising, printing and distribution of brochures to local health and community facilities, and providing direct information about programming to current and potential listeners through recorded versions and large print brochures of WRRS鈥� broadcast schedule.
Signal expansion in the fall will enable WRRS to reach listeners in Salina, Hutchinson, Pratt, Hillsboro and many other communities. Promotion of WRRS will be even more important as new areas of service are developed, said Denise Irwin, development director for KMUW 89.1, a subcarrier of WRRS.
The Weyerhaeuser Foundation is represented locally by a recycling unit that recently changed ownership and is now International Paper Company Recycling.
At Wichita Radio Reading Service, more than 150 volunteers donate their time to read The Wichita Eagle, USA Today, magazines, novels and other materials for WRRS listeners. Any person with a problem reading smaller than 14-point type or with a visual, physical, or cognitive handicap is eligible for the service.
KMUW 89.1 Wichita Public Radio is licensed to 麻豆传媒 as a noncommercial, CPB-qualified full service public radio station, is a charter NPR (National Public Radio) member and an affiliate of PRI (Public Radio International) and APM (American Public Media).