Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation Gift Enhances KUAF's Facilities And Community Outreach

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A gift commitment of $150,000 over the next three years from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation of Bentonville will strengthen KUAF - 91.3 FM National Public Radio and enhance its competitive position in the changing world of radio.

"A whirlwind of technological changes in the broadcast industry is causing us to compete with Internet broadcasting and direct-to-customer satellite radio," said Chaddie Kumpe, KUAF membership director. "This gift will help address these challenges in the coming years. We want to maintain local autonomy with a strong membership base, and we want to produce programming that is competitive in a national market."

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "The Walton family has been associated with many of KUAF’s advancements. We are very grateful for their continued support. KUAF is an important outreach arm of the University, and this gift will help develop programming that reflects a partnership between the station and the community."

Substantial gifts to KUAF have made possible outreach programs such as Classical Music Month and the Writing Project. Since 1994, more than 8,000 students have participated in KUAF’s classical music education program, and 5,000 students have entered its writing contest.

As the sole public radio entity in Northwest and Western Arkansas, KUAF is ranked among the top 10 public radio stations in the nation (Arbritron 99). The 15-year-old station has received accolades from the Arkansas Broadcasters Association and the National Federation for Press Women.

With this gift, it will continue to produce top-notch local programming and public outreach, such as Ozarks at Large, that will tie listeners to the station in a way that national programs cannot. KUAF also wants to produce nationally competitive, issue-based programming for national audiences, such as its series on Death and Dying, funded by the Benton Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Mental Assurance, a recent production funded by the Northwest Arkansas Mental Health Association. These programs have the potential to be distributed nationally, and Ozarks at Large is currently under consideration for national distribution by National Public Radio.

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