CKXU is having a fundraiser this Saturday with its Java and Jams Vinyl Sale at Cupper’s Coffee and Tea.
Executive Director Genna Bourchier says a curated selection of vinyl from the Love and Records vinyl collection will be on sale, as well as some vintage Love and Records merchandise. “We’re excited to get some of that stuff out into the community.
Bourchier adds with any purchase at the sale or from Cuppers, customers can also enter to win a turntable.
“We’re trying to fundraise money to cover some operational costs. The vinyl collection we house from Love and Records is largely responsible for fundraising dollars for the station, in the sense we are consistently out in the community tabling with it. Whether it be things like a handmade market or something at the university campus,” she says.
According to Bourchier, the campus and community non-profit FM-licensed radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. “The thing that makes us a little bit different is all the content you hear on-air is volunteer-generated and is generated by individuals in the community who have a passion for live music, local events, local musicians and general arts and culture.”
“People looking to share their message and their voice on an established airwave.”
CKXU’s focus is on non-Top 40 artists, and typically not too many hits, notes Bourchier. “A lot of what you hear on CKXU will be local – Albertan or Canadian content. Those are some of the things we typically try and prioritize.”
“We are very much a community and donor-run organization.”
Later this spring, CKXU will be announcing additional summer fundraising events, which will feature live music shows in July and August. “Both of which will be acting as fundraisers for the station. The money we fundraise typically goes towards our direct overhead costs. Things like keeping the tower good, healthy and in maintained condition and paying our utilities for the broadcast. The unseen invisible expenses of broadcasting,” says Bourchier.
“We also utilize it to fund our event and program supplies. Things that go directly into the hands of programmers or volunteers. Things that directly help us accomplish our mission, vision and programming.”
Bourchier adds the station’s annual fundraiser will be held in October. “We’ll be launching the theme and the general fundraising goals for that in August.”
The Java and Jams Vinyl Sale runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday is also officially Record Store Day in Canada.