IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has announced that its television stations helped raise nearly $1.4 million to assist the victims of flooding in Central Texas earlier this month.
In addition, the Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation has donated $25,000 each to two organizations (The San Angelo Area Foundation and The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country), for a total of $50,000 to assist with relief efforts in Tom Green County, Kerr County, and the surrounding areas.
In addition to live around-the-clock news coverage of the catastrophic flooding provided by Nexstar’s Texas television stations and the company’s national cable news network, NewsNation, several of the company’s television stations across the country initiated fundraising drives to assist with relief efforts, the broadcaster reported.
Led by Nexstar stations in San Angelo, Abilene, and Austin, Texas, those fundraising efforts included an hour-long flood-relief telethon that aired simultaneously on KLST-TV in San Angelo and KTAB-TV in Abilene on July 10 and raised nearly $1.4 million.
In Austin, KXAN-TV aired continuous coverage of the flooding and its aftermath and launched a custom made microsite, KXAN.COM/FloodRelief, where viewers could find more information about a variety of resources and relief organizations aimed at helping those in need.
The station also developed and aired 22 different public service announcements spotlighting different relief organizations throughout the area, and directed viewers to ten different charitable entities assisting the residents of Central Texas. Throughout the crisis, KXAN-TV employees have volunteered with local relief organizations, helping to gather and distribute supplies. Finally, dozens of Nexstar TV stations across the country, including properties in Chicago; Buffalo, N.Y.; Las Vegas; Denver; and Bakersfield, Calif., aired a QR code linking viewers to the KXAN website and ways to donate to local relief and charitable organizations helping with the recovery in Central Texas.
“This is what being a local broadcasting company is all about—continuous live news coverage of an event affecting tens of thousands of people, assisting in the recovery efforts, bringing people together, and giving back to the communities we serve,” Nexstar Chairman and CEO Perry Sook said. “In addition to the fundraising and volunteer efforts of our television stations, the Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation is honored to be contributing $50,000 to two organizations directly involved in helping the residents of Central Texas to rebuild their lives.”
