Cumulus Raises $250K for North Bay Wildfire Victims

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, October 19, 2017

Donating gift cards for Cumulus Media's North Bay Fire Relief at San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria are Arthur (KFOG Morning Show), KFOG listener Stephanie from Martinez CA, Stephanie's son, Dayna (KFOG Talent) and Stephanie's daughter

Cumulus Media San Francisco and its six-station cluster there has raised over $250,000 for the Bay Area Fire Relief Fund since Friday, October 13, bringing much-needed relief to victims of the massive Northern California wildfires. The wildfires destroyed homes displacing thousands of Northern Californians and scorched areas including Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, with 42 people reported to have perished in the fires, and more than 58 people still missing.

KFOG, KGO, KNBR, KSAN, KSFO and KTCT have partnered with local businesses to launch a major two-week relief drive, where businesses match up to $10,000 per day in cash donations raised by the stations' listeners, driving big momentum for the fundraising effort. 100% of funds raised by the drive will go to local North Bay fire relief. Cumulus San Francisco has already disbursed $150,000 between the Northern California Chapter of the Red Cross and to the United Way Bay Area.

Cumulus has established a PayPal account exclusively for donations. Those wishing to donate to the Bay Area Fire Relief Fund with a credit card, debit card or PayPal account will text one of the following keywords to 77948 to make a secure donation: "KNBR," "KGO810," "KFOG," "BONE" or "KSFO." Relief agencies are requesting cash donations over hard goods at this time. Those preferring to donate via check, should make their checks payable to the Red Cross or United Way while indicating Bay Area Fire Relief Fund in the memo line.

VP/Market Manager Justin Wittmayer said, "We are doing everything we can to raise awareness and donations for the North Bay fire victims. We activated a text-to-donate line last week that has driven over $250,000 in donations with a goal of raising $500,000. We'd like to thank our incredible employees for leading the charge, our advertising partners who've offered to match daily listener donations, and our truly generous and big-hearted listeners. This compounding effect has really engaged our audience to get involved and continues to build momentum for much-needed donations. We have a long road ahead of us and plan to stay involved to positively impact those affected as long as we are needed."

Following the initial two-week relief drive, KGO 810 will host a benefit Holiday Comedy Show & Toy Drive in early December. The station will collect new and unwrapped toys for children who lost all of their toys in the North Bay Fires.