Saga Communications’ Jonesboro Media Group set a new fundraising record during the 27th annual Have-a-Heart Wishathon, bringing in $547,341 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on February 14. The total surpassed last year’s efforts by more than $80,000.
The event is organized by the Arkansas cluster’s six stations – 104.9 The Fox (KDXY), 100.5 The Eagle (KEGI), Mix 106.3 (KJBX), Hot 107.5 (KDXY-HD2), EZ 92.7 (KDXY-HD3), and 98.5 The Outlaw (KJBX-HD2) – alongside Gray Television’s KAIT-TV. Spanning 13 hours, the Wishathon involved over 250 volunteers manning 18 roadblocks in a seven-county area.
More than $120,000 was raised by school children through the Kids for Wish Kids initiative.
Since its inception, the Have-a-Heart Wishathon has raised over $10 million to grant wishes to critically ill children. The event gained national attention after a 2015 feature on CBS’ 60 Minutes that highlighted the story of Kaden Ericcson, a young leukemia patient whose wish for a trip to Australia was granted before he passed away. The segment has since been re-aired four times.
Saga Communications Jonesboro President/General Manager Trey Stafford said, “Christie Matthews, our KDXY program director at the time, brought Make-A-Wish to us 27 years ago. We were all bitten by the Make-A-Wish bug and, luckily, we can’t get over it! It would be hard to duplicate what happens in this market annually. The way this market has bought into the whole wish-granting process and the passion with which they make this event successful can’t be explained to someone who isn’t here to watch it and see it. As my colleague Christie Matthews said after the event was over Friday, ‘I’m proud to live here.’”
KAIT-TV General Manager Hatton Weeks added, “KAIT is thrilled to play a role in making this event happen. What Make-A-Wish does for kids fighting critical illness is indescribable. You don’t understand it until you actually see it.”
