Erin Van Ness writesA Flood of Support

It is a cliché to say that nothing in life is free, but let’s be honest, it isn’t. You have to pay something in order to get something worthwhile. In CHIRP’s case, the station is a free service, but it takes thousands of volunteer hours to keep the place running, and of course we have rent and utility bills to pay just like everyone else — not to mention streaming fees, which cost almost as much as our rent!

In July, CHIRP experienced a devastating flood, requiring more than $15,000 worth of repair work. Thankfully, a full-on disaster was averted by insurance, which covered most—but not all—of the work and property losses. If we didn’t have good insurance, we would have been in big trouble. But insurance is another one of those bills we have to pay…

We’re over halfway through the fall membership drive, and the outpouring of support we’ve seen this last week has been overwhelming. We’ve reached an impressive $4080 toward our $10,000 goal in just one week. But CHIRP still needs your help to keep the station strong, making sure we can pay all our bills, getting past our flood recovery, and moving forward with great new projects and events.

Please visit http://chirpradio.org/donatenow, and become a member today.

CHIRP is a local, community-focused radio station, dedicated to Chicago’s independent culture. Without support from listeners like you, the station would not be possible, just like recovering from our summer flood without insurance would not have been possible. But our supporters are far more than our insurance — you are our backbone.

Become a member today, and help make sure we can keep providing the programming you care about. Visit http://chirpradio.org/donatenow, and thanks so much for supporting CHIRP Radio!