UA Little Rock Public Radio, home of KUAR FM 89.1 and KLRE Classical 90.5, surpassed its fall fundraising goal of $100,000, earning $123,000 during the 2020 Fall Fund Drive.

“We are very thankful to have a dedicated group of listeners who understand the value of classical music, and news and information grounded in fact, accuracy, and fairness,” General Manager Nathan Vandiver said. “The pandemic has changed so many things, so this successful fall fund drive is all the more important for sustaining this essential service. We sincerely thank our listeners, the Friends of KLRE/KUAR Board of Directors, whose leadership helped us add challenge grants to inspire listeners to give, and a special thank you to the seven organizations and individuals who stepped up with those challenge grants.”

A challenge grant is a donation offered with the stipulation that the donation must be matched by additional listener contributions. The organizations who donated challenge grants include the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Wright Lindsey Jennings, the Design Group, the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund, Core Concept Fitness, and two anonymous donors.

Throughout the drive that ran Oct. 5-9, UA Little Rock Public Radio received donations from more than 800 supporters of public radio. Proceeds will go to support bringing news, culture, and powerful radio to central Arkansas.

“We want to sincerely thank all of our donors, challenge grantors, hosts, supporters, and listeners for helping us surpass our $100,000 Fall Fund Drive goal,” said Maddie Spickard, membership director for UA Little Rock Public Radio. “This fund drive certainly looked much different than it has in years past.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, special community hosts broadcast on UA Little Rock Public Radio from their homes via Zoom, and no volunteers could come to the studio to help answer phones and take donations. UA Little Rock Public Radio staff members went the extra mile to make the drive a success.

“We weren’t entirely sure how successful the fund drive would be, considering all the unknowns in our world right now,” Spickard said. “However, the fund drive was very successful, and I’d say that is a testament to how critical and reliable our services are. People value the news and cultural programming that we have continued to provide through the shutdown and the global pandemic, racial injustice, election season, and everything in between.”

UA Little Rock Public Radio is currently in its 47th year of existence. In 1973, KLRE FM 90.5 signed on the air at 3,600 watts mono. The station originally broadcast only on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students in the Metropolitan Vocational Education Center’s radio classes ran most of the operations.