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Over the course of our Fall Membership Drive, we’re sharing some of the inspiring stories we receive from our volunteers and members. Today, long-time volunteer, Austin Harvey, describes the impact CHIRP DJs have on the Chicago community.
On the surface, it would seem that someone who DJs for CHIRP would do so for rather selfish reasons. You get to hear new music first, discover scads of new bands, foist your own musical tastes on an unsuspecting public, and hang out with the coolest music enthusiasts in the city.
But there’s actually more to it than that. DJs play a crucial role in the impact CHIRP has on the Chicago community as a whole. We’re playing music from local bands and labels around the clock, not just on a sequestered hour late at night. Chicagoans have a way to stay connected to their music and cultural scene, even if they’re on the other side of the planet. Supporters have a station they can call their own, with a stake in their community as well.
Ultimately, my own involvement with CHIRP is something bigger than the sum of any one volunteer’s contributions. It’s everyone trying, through the medium of radio — a medium that we all thought would be dead and gone in the 21st century — to make their community, their city, and their world a better, more interconnected place. It started with a few rogue music fans trying to build the station they wanted to hear. Thankfully, it’s the sort of thing that a few other folks wanted to hear as well.
—Austin B. Harvey
DJ and Volunteer since 2008
Agree that CHIRP is a vital service worth supporting? You can always:
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