BALTIMORE—Sinclair said its Sinclair Cares: Hurricane Relief fundraising partnership with The Salvation Army has raised nearly $1.3 million to assist with humanitarian relief efforts on the ground in Western North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia and Tennessee in the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The money will support The Salvation Army and the United Way in their post-hurricane efforts.

“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support that helped us raise nearly $1.3 million to aid in hurricane relief efforts,” Sinclair Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media Rob Weisbord said. “This is a testament to the power of collaboration and the generosity of our viewers and employees, as these funds will make a critical difference for those affected, helping to rebuild lives and communities in the aftermath of the devastation.”

As part of the efforts, Sinclair’s television stations participated in fundraising activities and on-air campaigns, with a dedicated day of giving held on Oct 4. They included:

• WCYB Tri Cities, Tennessee, raised $650,000 in partnership with the local chapter of United Way
• WJAR Providence, Rhode Island, held a telethon that generated $160,000 in donations to The Salvation Army
• WEAR Pensacola, Florida, raised over $50,000 for The Salvation Army
• Sinclair contributed a corporate donation of $50,000 and Executive Chairman, David D. Smith, made a personal donation of $25,000 to The Salvation Army.
• KATV Little Rock, Arkansas’ viewers donated enough supplies to fill a tractor-trailer with clothing, cleaning supplies, baby items and more for displaced victims of Hurricane Helene.
• Throughout the campaign, Sinclair supported the initiative with more than 100 hours of donated promo time while the company’s content centers aired 346 local news segments.

WASHINGTON—With millions of people seeking emergency assistance in the wake of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes, the FCC has issued an order allowing storm survivors to get discounted phone and broadband services.

The order was designed to quickly assist those impacted by the storms by temporarily waiving certain eligibility rules so consumers receiving federal disaster assistance can easily apply for and enroll in the Lifeline program, which provides discounts for lower-income households.

The order permits “households not already enrolled in the Lifeline program to enter the program if they are receiving individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Individuals and Households Program (IHP) as a result of the impacts of Hurricane Milton or other hurricanes or other tropical weather systems that result in a Presidential declaration of emergency or major disaster that occur during the next six months,” the FCC said in the order.

The Lifeline program offers qualifying low-income consumers discounts on fixed or mobile voice or broadband internet service, as well as on bundled service. Qualifying consumers can receive a $9.25 monthly discount on Lifeline-supported broadband service or a $5.25 monthly discount on Lifeline-supported voice service.

“Generally, the Commission’s rules may be waived for good cause shown,” the order said. “The Commission may exercise its discretion to waive a rule where the particular facts make strict compliance inconsistent with the public interest. In addition, the Commission may take into account considerations of hardship, equity, or more effective implementation of overall policy on an individual basis. We find that good cause exists to waive, for a period of six months from the date of release of this order, the Lifeline eligibility requirements in section 54.409(a)-(b) of the Commission’s rules for households that are receiving individual assistance from FEMA’s IHP as a result of any hurricane or other tropical weather system that is declared during the next six months.”

The FCC said “impacted individuals will have the opportunity to enroll in the Lifeline program using their participation in FEMA IHP as the result of a hurricane or other tropical weather system as the qualifying program for up to six months after a declaration is issued during the six-month waiver period.”

The order also reminded “Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) of their obligation to ‘[p]ublicize the availability of Lifeline service in a manner reasonably designed to reach those likely to qualify for the service.’ The Commission expects that ETCs will publicize this opportunity to impacted households and modify their application systems to allow FEMA IHP participants to quickly apply and enroll for the Lifeline program under this waiver.”

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group has announced that its TV stations and media businesses across the country have helped raise close to $1.5 million to date from viewers to support relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene and the potential damage that may be caused by Hurricane Milton.

Nexstar reported that donations will go to aid several charitable organizations assisting victims of the storm, including the American Red Cross, United Way, and the Salvation Army, among others.

“Since its founding nearly 30 years ago, Nexstar has always been committed to giving back to the communities in which it operates,” said Nexstar’s chairman and chief executive officer Perry Sook. “We take great pride in being able to assist those directing the hurricane recovery efforts in the southeastern region of the United States, and to make it easy for our viewers, listeners, and users to come to the aid of those impacted by Hurricane Helene and possibly Hurricane Milton.”

All of Nexstar’s 200 owned or partner television stations, the company’s national cable news network, NewsNation, The CW Network, and radio station WGN-AM in Chicago are participating in the fundraising drive, which began last week and is still underway.

Nexstar also reported that fundraising efforts will continue this week, with Hurricane Milton headed toward the Florida coast with the potential to be even more severe than Helene. Several Nexstar television stations are planning telethons, food and water drives, and airing a variety of public service programming related to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Nexstar said that its more notable fundraising efforts included:

• WJHL-TV, Nexstar’s local television station in Tri-Cities, Tennessee, raised more than $700,000 in partnership with the local chapter of United Way.
• WIVB-TV in Buffalo, New York, held a telethon that generated more than $165,000 in donations to the American Red Cross.
• The Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation contributed $25,000 to the American Red Cross last week.

In addition, across all of its local stations and television networks, Nexstar has so far helped raise more than $325,000 in contributions from viewers to the American Red Cross.

NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America, through a multi-faceted outreach campaign, has raised about $50,000 in the past month to help victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to foundation President Jim Thompson.

But meanwhile it has disbursed perhaps $132,000, and the amount could triple as more requests from Puerto Rico and the California fires arrive.

Who benefits from this money? A family may have suffered a collapsed roof; it may have lost furniture or computer equipment or other household goods worth thousands of dollars, but may have a limited income and little or no insurance. BFA has a program under which broadcast professionals can request $1,000 one-time emergency grants to help them back on their feet.

The foundation is extra busy at times like this, when one disaster follows on another. Office & Grant Manager Emily Barratt, President Jim Thompson, Vice President Peter Doyle and Chairman Dan Mason all play roles in informing the broadcast community, evaluating numerous requests for assistance and authorizing checks. Thompson said the process requires six steps but the foundation aims to move quickly and usually sends a grant check via overnight delivery for qualified requests.

An important part of the process is to inform broadcasters in states affected by emergencies. Doyle handles contact with relevant broadcast association heads—for instance in California and Texas—asking them to forward grant information to their constituencies.

The key, says Thompson, is to spread the word.

You can donate here:

https://bfoa.z2systems.com/np/clients/bfoa/donation.jsp

Or apply for help here:

https://broadcastersfoundation.org/monthly-grant-form/

BFA has a separate program that provides monthly grants to people in the business who are sick, unable to work and perhaps can’t keep their families together. The video below has more about the foundation’s general mission. 

WASHINGTON & NEW YORK—Efforts by local television broadcasters across the U.S. have brought in at least $45.1 million in relief funds to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, according to NAB and TVB.

In response to the hurricanes in Florida and Texas, broadcast TV and radio stations organized a number of outreach efforts, including telethons and other fundraisers, and collecting food, water bottle, clothing, hygiene products and other supplies. A number of stations have also made direct donations to relief efforts.

The major networks have also contributed in the recovery efforts, airing the “Hand to Hand” telethon on Sept. 12, which raised $14.5 million during the live broadcast and $55 million in total.

These estimates do not include fundraising totals for Hurricane Maria relief efforts, as most telethons and charitable events are in the planning stage.

“Local broadcasters served as ‘first informers’ and saved countless lives as Harvey and Irma tore through Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Southeast,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “Now, our attention turns to the long recovery ahead. I’m so proud of the generosity and compassion shown by broadcasters who are helping rebuild and restore hurricane-ravaged communities.”

The total funds were announced at the annual TVB Forward Conference in New York.