Local station holds 25th annual ‘radiothon’ to help raise money for kids battling cancer

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – For the 25th straight year, local radio station Sunny Country 102.5 FM is helping raise money for children battling cancer at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The Santa Maria-based radio station held its 25th Annual Sunny Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon on Wednesday and Thursday during its popular Jesse and Jay Mornings show. It marked a quarter-century the radio station has raised money for the famed children's hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital describes its mission as one to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment, while also never denying treatment for any child based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.

"I did my first one 22 years ago," said co-host Jay Turner. "We raised about $7,000. Last year, we were in $125,000 range. We're hoping to get there again this year, so I look at the aggregate of all those years, I lump that number together, and I look about how much money Sunny Country and the Central Coast has raised for St Jude, and you (the listeners) have raised for St Jude. I look at that number and I know it's significant. I know it's meaningful."

Over the course of two days, the morning show altered from its typical music and personality-driven format, mixing in impactful songs, as well as recorded testimonials from children and parents who are experiencing cancer journeys at St. Jude.

While on the air, Turner, along with co-host Jesse Carroll, asked listeners to help the cause by becoming a St. Jude Partner in Hope, a donation program where supporters donate $19 a month.

"Every petri dish at the St Jude Children's Research Hospital costs $10," said Turner. "So if we're getting a $19 a month pledge from our listeners, they're buying two petri dishes a month, so in theory, you might have financed the one that had that eureka moment. That's how I like to look at it, or you could look at it as $19 helps fuel the bus that takes the kids from the Target House to get their chemo, or it goes on to a gift card for them to shop at Kroger and eat the kind of food that they're used to eating and not cafeteria food all the time, so however you want to justify $19 a month, you do it your own way. For me, it's a it's a no brainer."

Over the previous 24 years of the radiothon, Sunny Country, through generous donations from its listeners, has raised about $1 million.

"I don't think it's any secret that this community is unlike any other," said Carroll. "We say that a lot of times when we have these fundraisers or something really big happens here, even the floods last February, when that happened, everyone came and asked, how do we help? What can we do? So it's not unique to this community to step up when we need it, and for us, just being the little voices, it's you guys doing the work. It's this community that's recognizing the need. We're just the vessels. We deliver the information. It's you guys that are stepping up, and I think this community really makes it clear that they've got our back."

For more information about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, click here.