BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Area radio station WOOL 91.5 FM announces an online auction of gift cards and gift certificates from local business. The fundraiser will run from Nov. 21- 29 on eBay. For a fraction of their value, bidders can win valuable gift cards at businesses they already support. Doing so helps community radio, area commerce, and the bidders themselves.
The annual Black Sheep Radio Silent Auction is the principal fundraiser for the community radio station, but gatherings like these have become problematic during the pandemic. The WOOL 91.5 FM radio station will use the internet to bring the event to its listeners this year, who can find the online auction through the station’s website at www.wool.fm/auction.
Bidding starts at 5 p.m. Nov. 21, and runs until 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29. This gives participants nine days to bid on the items, as opposed to the three-hour window of the station’s customary auction.
“Every year our auction brings a major contribution to our operating costs,” said WOOL President and area architect Bill Holtz. “We’re happy to have found a safe and effective way to rally the troops. Our area businesses are great partners in this project. We should all be proud to support them with these purchases.”
The community station, known also as Black Sheep Radio, broadcasts on 91.5 FM and on the web at www.wool.fm. It went on the air in 2005 and has remained a backbone for community organizations and local underwriters ever since. One of the most powerful independent community stations in America, WOOL began broadcasting in the first wave of community radio of the 21st century.
Run by volunteers and staffed by dozens of freelance radio producers, nonprofit Black Sheep Radio relies heavily on membership and fundraisers to cover its annual operating costs.
“We should all be thankful that we’re able to have an independent and locally-controlled media outlet operating in our area,” says longtime WOOL supporter Gary Smith. “In a media world that’s hard to trust, it’s good to know we have one programmed and curated by our neighbors and that we own in common.”
Proceeds benefit Great Falls Community Broadcasting Company, the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that holds the license for WOOL 91.5 FM.
For further information, email feedback@blacksheepradio.org.