WXXI Channel 21 – Rochester (WXXI Public Broadcasting Council)
- Ready to Learn Program for Rochester City School District Pre-Kindergarten Teachers and Families
WXXI and the Rochester City School District’s (RCSD) Early Childhood Department have a long-standing community engagement collaboration. It is focused on jointly supporting the early childhood educators, families, and preschoolers within the City of Rochester with professional learning opportunities, family engagement events, and educational resources. WXXI’s Ready To Learn program provides professional development workshops to RCSD early pre-k and universal pre-k teachers through an ongoing, robust suite of learning opportunities geared towards expanding the depth of resources and tools available for early learning spaces.
Participating early childhood educators increase their knowledge, experience, and confidence with high-quality Ready To Learn and PBS KIDS educational media content, as well as developmentally appropriate hands-on activities and resources, to incorporate into early childhood learning settings. Topic examples range from integrating media into learning and play spaces, to social and emotional strategies from Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, to ways to encourage nature exploration with Nature Cat. WXXI is regularly invited as a trainer and community partner for RCSD training institutes, superintendent’s conference days, and family and community outreach events to support students and families of our youngest 3-4 year old students.
Through this partnership, WXXI also works with district staff to support parents, caregivers, and out-of-school learning spaces, like the home. Parents and caregivers are provided regular opportunities to learn with their adult peers as well as their children. By providing parent-focused engagement experiences, WXXI and RCSD are able to share resources that families can utilize and duplicate outside of the child’s classroom.
During the year 70+ workshops and informal learning events are offered. They are attended by thousands of teachers and families from RCSD and the City of Rochester. Through the partnership WXXI and RCSD Early Childhood Department are able to support educators and empower families with knowledge of how to access and appropriately utilize WXXI educational media resources to provide opportunities for young children to grow and learn.
Finger Lakes Radio Group
- THE PLEDGE 2018 – Helping a Local Family
In early 2018, a family in Geneva was devastated by the loss of their home from an explosion and resulting fire. Gratefully, no one was hurt, but the home and all of their belongings were lost. The family was put up in temporary housing – however the arrangement was such that the family was divided. The months stretched on as the family worked to find a new home. The situation became increasingly stressful for the younger members of the family.
The Finger Lakes Radio Group had been planning an event on Flag Day to celebrate the American Flag by staging a grand ensemble of people to say the Pledge of Allegiance en masse. The Pledge was to be held in Waterloo, the Birthplace of Memorial Day, at Tom Coughlin Field of Waterloo Central School District – at which the kids who lost their house to fire – attended school. Our original goal was to bring the community together to salute and celebrate our flag – however, we decided that the underlying celebration would be to support one of our own during their challenging time. We contacted a local Girl Scout Troop and arranged for them to sell bottles of water – at our event, the proceeds of which would go directly to this family. Businesses from throughout the community and beyond were contacted and donated cases of water to sell. We spoke for weeks, on the air, about our efforts to help the family, and encouraged participation and donations. After the event – we were able to present a check to the family to help with daily struggles as they worked to get their life back on track.
WHAM-TV Channel 13 & WUHF Channel 28- Rochester (Sinclair Broadcast Group)
- Special Olympics of New York Winter Games
For the second consecutive year, Rochester played host to Special Olympics New York for its annual Winter Games. WHAM & WUHF partnered with Special Olympics to drive community-wide support for this rousing spectacle. Glossy public service announcements broadcast by the stations helped secure more than 1,400 volunteers. In addition, a series of athlete profiles produced by 13WHAM News highlighted the impact of Special Olympics on families throughout our community and state.
92.5 FM WBEE – Rochester (Entercom Communications)
- Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign
The Salvation Army of Greater Rochester’s annual Red Kettle Campaign raised more than $398,000 this past Christmas season – exceeding their $350,000 goal.
Major Douglas Hart, Director of Monroe County Operations for The Salvation Army said that while need continues to grow across our area for emergency assistance for things like food, shelter, rent, and utilities, the generosity of the community continues to meet those needs.
“When you give to The Salvation Army, you provide gifts of healing and hope for those who need it most,” Major Hart said. “Through the support we receive from donors and volunteers at the kettles, The Salvation Army assists thousands of families throughout the year.”
The Honorary Red Kettle Campaign Chairperson, 92.5 WBEE radio personality Steve Hausmann, was a driving force in the success of the campaign. Mr. Hausmann rang The Salvation Army bells at Red Kettles, both with his family and with other volunteers, as well as advocating for The Salvation Army every morning on the radio. Mr. Hausmann and our partnership with Entercom Radio exemplified the mission of The Salvation Army throughout the campaign.
“We were very grateful to have had Mr. Hausmann serve as this year’s Honorary Red Kettle Campaign Chairperson,” Major Hart added.
WBSU-FM
- “Warming Up Western New York” Community Action of Genesee and Orleans
Last November we WBSU partnered with Community Action of Genesee and Orleans to host a public service campaign called “Warming Up Western New York.”
“Warming Up Western New York” was a program to collect gently used clothing and non-perishable food items. All donations collected were donated to Community Action of Orleans and Genesee. The station set up donation locations at Maurice’s in Brockport and Batavia on November 16th and 17th. Over 325 gently used clothing and non-perishable food items were donated.
WHEC-TV Channel 10 – Rochester (Hubbard Broadcasting)
- Toys For Tots Holiday Drive
This year we partnered with Toys for Tots for the first ever “News10NBC Toys for Tots Holiday Drive”.
Toys “R” Us closed earlier in the year which put the Toys for Tots program in jeopardy locally. The retailer had historically donated somewhere in the range of $40,000 (7,800 toys) yearly to this campaign. News10NBC stepped in to help make up for the lack of donations and financial support.
We brought in a sponsor, Fidelis, which helped with exposure and heightened our efforts on-air, on line and in the community. Our outreach promotion ran from November 19 through December 21. We sent out 500+ collection boxes to various locations and urged our local community to stop by and donate…. And they DID!
Through live shots in newscasts, to on-air promos, to digital and social pushes – local TV and our platforms really worked! We were able to collect almost 55,000 toys during our drive!
That meant more than 18,000 kids got to experience the joy of opening up presents filled with toys and games this year.
It was a true full-station effort that really made a difference in our community.
WROC-TV, New 8 ROCHESTER (Nexstar Broadcasting)
- Putting You First Mondays
News 8 WROC PUTS YOU FIRST through this initiative that engages, informs and addresses issues that impact our community!
Putting You First is a weekly call in event every Monday from 5 – 6:30 p.m. during our Early News. The station invited local community organizations, SUCH AS THE ALZHEIMERS ASSOCATION, and experts to join it at the historic News 8 WROC studios to field viewer calls and questions about timely, impactful and sometimes life-saving topics.
Each week has a different theme that can range from health-related issues, insurance and taxes questions, tips on opening your pool and even getting rid of pests in your home.
The station generates more than 400 calls per month from viewers who reach out for answers, advice and guidance. As Rochester’s first television station (celebrating 70 years this year), News 8 WROC has had a steadfast commitment to our community…Putting You First Mondays is one way we live up to this commitment.
iHeart Media (WHAM/WHTK/WVOR)
- American Heart Association’s Heart Walk and Run
iHeartMedia Rochester would like to recognize the American Heart Association and their annual Heart Walk & Run. The event raised over $700,000 in 2018, which helps to save lives from this country’s #1 and #5 killers – heart disease and stroke. Over 4,000 members of our community came together at Frontier Field last year to raise awareness and funds for this cause.
iHeartMedia has been a strong supporter of the Rochester Heart Walk & Run for three years now, and have led the media teams in fundraising efforts. The American Heart Association issues a media challenge each year, to see which company can raise the most money for the cause – and iHeartMedia Rochester has come out on top each year! They are proud to stand behind this incredible organization, and are grateful for what they do for our community.