ST. CROIX — WTJX raised more than $13,000 during live coverage of the St. Thomas Carnival Adults’ Parade last Saturday, after an on-air fundraising appeal led by board chair Kyza Callwood drew support from 167 donors in a seven-hour period.
Callwood said the effort was inspired by growing concerns over fiscal challenges facing public broadcasting stations nationwide following the loss of funding from Congress to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as the need to strengthen community support for WTJX, the Virgin Islands Public Broadcasting System.
“I thought it fitting that members of our community, supporters of our community can help our own station here in the community that’s been around for a long, long time,” he said.
WTJX, which aired its first TV program on August 29, 1972, provides PBS and NPR programming throughout the territory, in addition to local radio broadcasts and live cultural event coverage, including all Virgin Islands festival parades.
According to Callwood, the fundraising campaign was launched during WTJX’s live broadcast of the annual Adults’ Parade on St. Thomas. While serving as one of the parade hosts, he encouraged viewers to contribute in real time as they watched the festivities unfold.
“I continuously announced that they could help us raise $10,000 in five hours,” he said.
The parade lasted seven-and-a-half hours, and the station ultimately raised $13,742.34 during that period.
Callwood described the fundraising drive as largely spontaneous, saying it was not part of a long-term planning effort but instead emerged from a desire to engage the public during one of the territory’s largest cultural celebrations.
“With my compassionate voice, my energetic voice, bringing excitement of the need to donate while they view or party with a purpose, we wanted to do a donation activity for WTJX,” he said.
Tanya-Marie Singh, WTJX chief executive officer, said Callwood called her last Friday after the Children’s Parade to discuss his fundraising plan.
“I had to jump on board,” Singh said. “We’ve done this type of thing before, but not very successfully. We’ve had all the bells and whistles with staff in the office answering the phones and taking pledges. This time it was just him — a one-man gang. He did a fantastic job appealing to the public. You could see the surge in donations whenever he asked people to give. No millionaire is going to waltz into WTJX, open up their wallet, and solve the station’s funding shortfalls — although we would very much appreciate that. But if the people we serve, at home and abroad, give what they can, it goes a long way in helping us maintain our systems. So, I not only want to thank our chairman, but I also want to thank everyone who donated their hard-earned money to ensure that we continue to do the work in providing cultural, educational, news, sports, entertainment, and public affairs programming to Virgin Islanders, wherever they may be.”
Other on-air personalities involved in the parade coverage included Sandra Goomansingh, George Silcott, and Mia Hodge, though the fundraising appeals were handled solely by Callwood while the other hosts focused on parade commentary and field coverage.
Callwood said he was encouraged by the community’s response and thanked residents who contributed during the broadcast.
“I feel very excited that that happened,” he said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and every person that donated.”
He added that WTJX plans to continue its fundraising efforts during future community events, including the St. John Celebration in July.
“I’m just asking the community members to tell a friend to tell Peter to tell Paul to tell Saul to tell them all that WTJX is on a donation effort, and we need your help,” Callwood said.
Residents interested in supporting the station can donate through WTJX’s website at www.wtjx.org/donate. All donations are tax-deductible.
