In early spring, Mike Morrice and I were invited to meet with the Kitchener Radio Group to discuss ways they might be able to “publicize the efforts” of Sustainable Waterloo Region.

Meeting with the radio group was a unique opportunity for Sustainable Waterloo Region because radio wasn’t a communication medium we had reached out to very aggressively in the past, and I was excited to see what might result. I really enjoyed the initial meeting. As a Sustainable Waterloo Region volunteer who is still a student, this was a terrific way to gain hands-on learning in my field of study. That’s the beauty of volunteering with Sustainable Waterloo Region – the focus on mutual development – but this is no doubt a topic for another blog post.

When we arrived at the Kitchener Radio Group office, we met with Mike Collins and Wendy Duff. In the meeting, Mike gave an overview of Sustainable Waterloo Region and answered a number of questions about the organization. We were then asked what kind of support we would like them to provide. Initially we noted that events are a staple of Sustainable Waterloo Region’s operations so promotion of some upcoming events would be a great option, but the radio group’s availability was for a summer campaign. Sustainable Waterloo Region does not hold events in the summer and thus it was agreed that an awareness campaign would be effective as well. Mike C and Wendy then introduced us to the segments called CHYM Cares.  Wendy suggested that it would be great if we could get Mike into the studio as well as representatives from a couple Regional Carbon Initiative members to record material.

The result was three minute-long clips that have been airing on both 96.7 CHYM FM and KIX 106.7 since early June until this past Sunday, August 8th. The clips feature Mike Morrice, Executive Director of Sustainable Waterloo Region, Paul Rak from Pledging Partner Veriform Inc., and David Roewade from Observing Organization the Region of Waterloo. If you missed the clips on the radio, you can find them here under the In the Media tab.

We are extremely grateful to the Kitchener Radio Group for providing us with this opportunity. The CHYM Cares campaign has been invaluable not only because of the response from the community, but also because it helped us attract a new volunteer – Megan, who joined our Web team after hearing the spot! This campaign also stands out as another example of the willingness of organizations in Waterloo Region to embrace the work of Sustainable Waterloo Region. The Kitchener Radio Group – perhaps not in a position to join the Regional Carbon Initiative, but still seeing the importance of promoting environmental sustainability – chose to support our work by utilizing their own unique resources.

Jenn