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REQUEST FOR COVERAGE
Saturday, April 25, 2015
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For More Information:
J. Pat Miller - (414) 967-5325
WTMJ Cares Program to donate over $50,000 to build Accessible Playground
Milwaukee, WI – WTMJ Radio will celebrate the success of the “WTMJ CARES” giving campaign with a community
celebration at Valley View Elementary School in Menomonee Falls on Saturday, April 25, 2015. WTMJ morning host Jodi
Becker has told the story of Ben Nelson, an eight year old at Valley View Elementary who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a
version of MS that limits muscle control. Ben uses a wheelchair and the elementary school didn’t have a universally
accessible playground. To build a new playground that is accessible to anyone with special needs, Ben’s family began
fundraising. When the Nelsons joined forces with WTMJ the remaining fundraising goal was $38,000. Since the start of
the program in March, WTMJ listeners and the community have rallied for over $50,000 in donations. The money over the
goal will go towards an expansion of the equipment to make the playground even more accessible.
“WTMJ firmly believes we do well by doing good. We serve Wisconsin - and we're getting behind our air personalities by
giving them a month where we use our resources to give back to our community. Jodi Becker is first on our team to lead in
this new community betterment initiative. We are pleased to help - and we thank our listeners and great businesses for
helping to build this wonderful playground,” said Tom Langmyer Vice President and General Manager of WTMJ Radio.
“The generosity shown for this project by hundreds of WTMJ listeners has been jarring. Never in my wildest dreams did I
imagine we would raise more than $50,000 for this project, blowing way past our goal. I am beyond thankful that our
community has latched onto the Nelson family and the Valley View accessible playground project,” said Jodi Becker
cohost of Wisconsin’s Morning News on 620 WTMJ.
“On behalf of our family, the students at Valley View Elementary and the community of Menomonee Falls, I want to thank
WTMJ and the many donors who supported this project. Your generosity will make a real, tangible and immediate
difference in the lives of our children,” said Angie Nelson, Ben Nelson’s mother.
Event Details:
The celebration on Saturday, April 25 at Valley View Elementary in Menomonee Falls will run from 8 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. the community is invited to come to the playground area and enjoy free coffee and donuts thanks to
Grebe’s Bakery and Roast Coffee. At 10 a.m. Valley View Administrators, 620 WTMJ’s Jodi Becker and the Nelson
Family will announce the final fundraising total and dedicate the location of the new playground. The playground will be
installed in early Summer 2015. Angie Nelson, Ben Nelson and Jodi Becker will all be available for comment during the
event.
WTMJ (AM 620), Milwaukee’s heritage radio station, is the winner of radio’s highest honor: The National Association of
Broadcasters' 2014 Marconi Radio Award for Station of the Year. Previously, in 2000 and 2003, WTMJ won the Marconi
Radio Award for News/Talk/Sports Station of the Year. Also in 2003, WTMJ won broadcast journalism’s highest honor,
the Radio-Television News Directors Association’s Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in large market
radio.
The E.W. Scripps Company serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of television, radio and digital
media brands. Scripps is one of the nation’s largest independent TV station owners, with 33 television stations in 24
markets and a reach of nearly one in five U.S. households. It also owns 34 radio stations in eight markets. When Scripps
and the former Journal Communications merged their broadcast assets in early 2015, they also spun off their respective
newspapers, creating a new public company, Journal Media Group. Scripps also runs an expanding collection of local and
national digital journalism and information businesses, including mobile video news service Newsy and weather app
developer WeatherSphere. Scripps also produces television shows includingThe List and The Now, runs an award-winning
investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and serves as the long-time steward of the nation’s largest, most
successful and longest-running educational program, the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held
for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”