Radio to the rescue: In Sedalia, MO seventh-grader Brandon Storey spent the whole day shoveling snow – and made some $24 doing it. That’s until a thief robbed him of his earnings. He said a man came along, snatched the money and ran off. “I was really upset because I was working hard for this money,” Storey told Country KDRO-AM announcer Charlie Thomas about it on his show.
“The next thing I know, a listener walks in with $30,” Thomas said. After that listeners started showing up and leaving money for Storey — $177. It was delivered to him by a police officer.
“Me and the police officer both couldn’t look at each other,” Storey said. “We were both afraid we were going to tear up and have to give up our man cards, you know?”
Storey told KMBC-TV Kansas City’s Maria Antonia that is the most money he has ever seen. He said his mother used some of he money to pay for groceries. He said he would also like to buy baseball cards.
The boy said he learned a lesson from the experience.
“There are good people, some bad, and a lot of people who like to help out other people,” Storey said.
Police said the person who stole the money didn’t say a word and they don’t have a good description of him, so they said it’s likely he will get away this time unless someone speaks up.
RBR-TVBR observation: Can Pandora do this? Can Slacker do this? Can Sirius XM do this? No. Local radio still shines with many listeners in this respect and many still view it as the local resource and voice of the community it always was. Remember WNCI and Ted Williams? Well it doesn’t matter if it’s a small, mid or large-sized market—local radio will always come to the rescue and many advertisers realize that in associating themselves with the local radio phenomenon is a good investment.
