Paul Bunyan Broadcasting & United Way Host 36th ‘Radiothon to End Child Abuse’

Child abuse comes in many different forms, and unfortunately, it isn’t something that will easily go away, but there are multiple ways to help prevent it. Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and the United Way of Bemidji Area partner every year to host their Radiothon to End Child Abuse to raise funds to help support child abuse prevention efforts, with this year’s event held on Thursday, December 5th.

Bar 209 and Raphael’s Bakery & Café in Bemidji are usually places to go for a bite to eat, but for the last several years they’ve also played host to the Radiothon, a 12-hour non-stop radio broadcast playing throughout Beltrami and Hubbard County to help raise funds for child abuse prevention programs in the area.

“Our previous owners, Lou Buron and Mary Campbell, came from the [Twin Cities] metropolitan area and radio there, and they had [a radiothon] for child abuse prevention there,” said Kev Jackson, Paul Bunyan Broadcasting’s Operations Manager. “And he just brought that here. Then he bought several stations in Brainerd, Alexandria, Wadena, so we do this throughout all over the Lakes area.”

With many organizations throughout northwest Minnesota that provide child abuse prevention programs, the United Way and Paul Bunyan Broadcasting do what they can to help those who truly want to help.

“This is a hard thing to bring awareness to,” said Denae Alamano, Executive Director of United Way in Bemidji. “People experiencing it, that’s a hard thing to share, but also it’s not something we want to think about or worry about because it’s really devastating. And so to do this each year, to raise funds so that we can prevent these kinds of things from happening, that’s a big deal in our community.”

“The need continues to be there,” added Jackson. “It’s a long, tedious, hard process to break cycles, and there’s so many good people who are doing such yeoman’s work to try to make this end, that we just want to keep helping them.”

So far, this year’s Radiothon has raised over $11,000, but that number will continue to go up throughout the weekend through various means, including earnings from silent auctions held throughout the event.

On Monday, December 9th, the 11th annual Celebrity Servers Night will be held at Giovanni’s Pizza in downtown Bemidji, where patrons can leave a tip for their favorite “Radio Royalty Server.” All tips will go directly to child abuse prevention programs.

If you can’t make it to the restaurant on Monday, you can order online throughout the weekend or simply leave a tip.