Blue Ridge Public Radio is launching a fundraising campaign – Be the Lifeline – designed to build sustainable financial support that will replace income lost from the federal government’s defunding of The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
BPR, a lifeline for Western North Carolina residents after Hurricane Helene ravaged the area in September 2024, will lose $330,000 a year — 9% of its annual revenue — as a result of the defunding. BPR’s base of support has offered an outpouring of donations in response to the funding challenge. These early gifts safeguard trusted local journalism and keep high-quality music thriving on our airwaves.
“We’ve been so impressed with how our area is supporting us as we move to a totally private funding model,” says Ele Ellis, BPR’s CEO and general manager. “With many asking to help, it’s the perfect time to ask our listeners to be our lifeline, providing support that will help ensure our long-term success.”
The Be the Lifeline campaign starts September 2, tied to BPR’s next on-air fund drive. Then, a launch event, Be the Lifeline: A Community Benefit for BPR Featuring BJ Leiderman and Friends, will be held Sunday, September 28, from 2:30 to 5 p.m., at Highland Brewing’s event space in Asheville.
Leiderman is a nationally known composer and musician whose theme music is heard on a variety of programs on Blue Ridge Public Radio, including Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, and Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
The ticketed fundraiser, at $25 per person (children 12 and under are free), is open to the public and will also feature interactions with BPR on-air staff and station leadership.
The campaign’s artwork, produced by North Carolina artist Brittain Peck, will be a prominent part of Be the Lifeline’s social media, online, and advertising campaigns. The artwork evokes the famous scene in the 1989 movie Say Anything when Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack) holds a boom box aloft playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.”
When Hurricane Helene struck Western North Carolina, the community experienced firsthand just how essential public radio truly is. BPR’s team spent hours a day telling people where to get food and water. For days — or even weeks in some cases — BPR supplied the only voices that some could hear after the storm.
The BPR staff’s work has been recognized nationally with a slew of awards, including two prestigious Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, one award from the Online News Association, five Green Eyeshade Awards from the Society of Professional Journalism, and three awards from the Public Media Journalists Association.
“Whether it’s by coming to the event at Highland Brewing, or by making a contribution online, we know WNC residents will come through in this time of need,” says Travis Childs, chair of BPR’s board of directors. “Blue Ridge Public Radio is critical for delivering local news to our area, and that was never more apparent than in the weeks and months after Helene.”
For more information about the Be the Lifeline campaign, and to give, visit BPR.org/lifeline.
