Volunteers in Fund Raising
The NFPB Volunteer in Fund Raising Award represents creativity and effectiveness in the use of volunteers in fund-raising.
A key mission of public television is to use the power of electronic media to create innovative educational opportunities. WNET accomplishes this through the Teaching and Learning Celebration - a two-day professional development conference for educators.
For three years the Friends have assumed responsibility for a project within the Celebration focused on students - Hobart Shakespeareans (2005); Daniel Pearl Reporters (2006) - and underwriting for (314) teacher registrations (2007). The Friends raised the funds necessary to bring these students to the Celebration.
This Friends group hosted a screening and reception for 750 at the historic St. George Theatre in Staten Island, NY, for “A Walk around Staten Island”. This event “opened the doors” to many new cultural organizations and partnerships in the community and played a key role in very successful pledging.
An integral part of this “Friends” group is the “The Korean Friends” who have supported the station for over 15 years with Golf Outings, Fundraising Dinners, and Theater Parties, most recently hosting a fund-raising dinner in Flushing with over 250 people attending.
From volunteering time, to providing financial support, to making it known to their elected officials how important independent public television is in their lives, the Friends of Thirteen demonstrate the value of public television to the communities they serve. Their vested interest is simply the love of their local public television station.
The overall strong leadership of Chairman Carmela Haklisch and the board members, made it possible for Thirteen/WNET to realize nearly $190,000 in FY2007-08.