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Fall has always been my favorite season of the year.

Now that the night air is a little crisper and leaves on the trees are losing that shiny emerald green luster, it’s a sure bet that autumn is just around the corner. Another sign of the change in seasons is the planning and excitement associated with the launch of our annual fall fundraising campaign on KBCS. Like our spring fund drive in this challenging world of this dreadful pandemic, this year’s fall drive will be a lot different than the traditional fundraising campaigns of the pre-pandemic world.

A great deal has changed over the past year as we continue our struggle to meet the difficult challenges of eradicating this deadly plague that has caused so much pain, suffering, and uncertainty across the land.

But recent past generations of Americans have faced hard challenges too. Working together, they found a way to put their differences aside for the common good and overcame all obstacles in their way to preserve our democratic way of life and keep the still unrealized dream of a more egalitarian, just, and fair world for all alive.

My parents and grandparent’s generation met the difficult challenges of eradicating a deadly flu pandemic in 1918 that took the lives of millions. They also marshalled the resources and collective discipline required to win two world wars and overcome an economic disaster called the Great Depression, the likes the world has never seen before or since. And they did that in one twenty-eight-year time frame from 1917 to 1945.

All this was accomplished by putting aside our many differences, rolling up our sleeves, and finding the way to work together as a united community to achieve a common goal. That can-do spirit still resides within each of us.

I am witnessing that same community minded spirit today in a much smaller way here at KBCS. The Bellevue College campus remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and access to the KBCS studios on campus is restricted. And rightfully so.

At KBCS we are taking this pandemic seriously and doing our part to follow the recommendations identified by empirical science and evidence-based practice to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Many people are working from their homes now and limiting their interactions with others to do their part to stop the spread of the virus, and so are we.

Today, most of our longtime community volunteer music hosts are producing their radio shows from their homes. These KBCS volunteers have ingeniously put together home recording studios at their own expense, just to keep this beautiful dream of true community radio alive. I am truly humbled by their dedication, individual initiative, and can-do spirit. This collective effort renews my faith in the true American ideal of how a diverse group of citizens can work together to build bridges to a better world.

In the end, we are all in this together and we must all do our part to help stop the spread of this dreadful virus that kills old people, young people, healthy people, and those that are not so healthy. The coronavirus is an equal opportunity killer. One unnecessary death is one too many. Especially if it is the death of someone you love.

I only ask that you do your part right now and help us to keep true community radio alive and thriving here in our little corner of the world. Community radio makes it possible for your friends, family and neighbors to share their passion for music and life with everyone in our community. Community radio builds stronger communities, provides the opportunity for greater diversity, and reflects the uniqueness of life here in the Pacific Northwest.

Become a sustaining contributor to KBCS today with a regular contribution of just twenty dollars a month or whatever you can afford. Some listeners can afford to give more, some less, but together in true community spirit it all adds up and makes this community treasure possible for us and for future generations to enjoy and participate in too.

Thank you for your support.

Dana Buckingham

KBCS General Manager and Proud Sustaining Contributor