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Mission
Encourage children and adults to be together, respect one another, and learn with each other through the unique medium of radio. In particular: (1) encourage self-expression, communication and literacy among children and adults; (2) provide technical and educational resources that enrich lives of children and adults through education, self-exploration and entertainment; (3) provide family-friendly music and activities that encourage multi-generational participation, family interaction and community-building; and (4) contribute to and promote Pittsburgh’s national position as a family-friendly region to live in or visit.
Key Facts
Geographic areas served:
Western Pennsylvania
Target demographics:
People of all ages and across all generations.
Results to date:
Weekly broadcasts of our Saturday morning radio program for 29 consecutive years. We currently air from 6 to noon on 88.3 WRCT Pittsburgh, 91.1 WSAJ Grove City, 90.1 WIUP Indiana, 91.7 WNJR Washington and 1550 WLFP Braddock. In a typical year, we feature over 70 professional musicians performing on air, over 100 interviews with area non-profits, over 50 youth musicians and 20 youth theater previews. Off-air activities include radio dramas, workshops and audio projects involving over 250 children per year.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 40,000 to 75,000 and Internet radio listeners
Indirect beneficiaries per year: Approximately 250,000 people visit the Children's Museum annually, many of whom visit our studios.
Obstacles:
We’re growing! Rapidly! Our flagship public radio program “The Saturday Light Brigade” began as an all-volunteer effort in 1978. Ten national, state and local awards and 22 years later, we formed a non-profit to guide our growth in 2000. With a budget of $8,000/year, we grew rapidly and moved our studio and offices to leased space in the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Today we have 3 employees, a budget of about $200,000/year and distribute our radio program to five stations. We also conduct youth workshops and other off-air educational projects related to audio.
Your donation of $25 enables us to:
add CDs to our family-friendly music library
Your donation of $100 enables us to:
buys a microphone, pair of headphones or other piece of studio gear
Your donation of $1000
subsidizes youth media workshops focused on reading, speaking and listening skills.
Board Members and Affiliation:
Board:
Lawrence M. Berger, Host and Founder of The Saturday Light Brigade radio program.
Rikki L. Berger, SLB producer for 15 years and registered nurse at Suburban General Hospital, West Penn Allegheny Health System.
E. Paul Dick, retired Vice President of Human Resources, St. Francis Hospital, past board president and current board member, UCP Pittsburgh.
Ken Doyno, AIA, Principal, Rothschild Doyno Architects
Lourdes A. Karas, Executive Director, Appalachian Education Initiative.
Christopher D. Tower, P.E., P.G., Principal, C.D. Tower and Associates, an engineering firm based in Westmoreland County.
Advisory Board:
Bruce Adamson, award-winning children’s performer, communications lecturer, and advertising professional.
Kevin Amos, Thomas Merton Center
The Honorable Max Baer, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice and former Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge
Connie Brinda, Prime Stage
Wayne Brinda, Prime Stage
Lisa Dennis, system-wide coordinator of children’s collections, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Holly Dick, retired health-care professional for troubled adolescents, current ACCESS staff member, past president, Radio Information Service for the Blind.
Emily E. Jarrett, fundraising counsel
Cindy Harris, Internet specialist, folk music performer.
Joseph Kennedy, IV, Family Communications
Margaret “Maggie” Kimmel, Chair, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh
Marge Lubawy, Allegheny County Department of Human Service, Office of Community Relations.
Bill Lucker, former Saturday Light Brigade producer and co-host (1981-2001), consulting engineer.
W. Thomas McGough, Jr., Partner, Reed Smith LLP; Past Chairman, WQED Multimedia
Darren Morton, WSAJ Radio Director , Grove City College
David Parker, nationally recognized performer for children and their families
Paula Purnell, award-winning children’s music performer, singer/songwriter, and workshop leader
Gregg Stewart, musician and oncology account manager
Joan Stewart, musician and photographer.
Richard Stuempges, public school principal
David Tamulevich, nationally-known folk music musician, agent and manager as well as member of the folk-duo Mustard’s Retreat and the advisory board of Sing Out! magazine.
Annie Trimble, musician, songwriter and technical writer.
Mark Weakland, educator and children’s entertainer.
Larry Werner, retired president of Ketchum Communications; former Vice President, Executive Service Corps of Pittsburgh
Past and Current Funders:
The Grable Foundation
The Forbes Funds
Dominion Foundation
McFeeley-Rogers Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation
PPG Industries Foundation
Laurel Foundation
Clapp Charitable & Educational Trust
Carnegie Museum of Art
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Supercuts
Carnegie Science Center
National City
Key Staff
Larry Berger, Founder and Executive Director
Rikki Berger, Executive Producer
Justin Chechile, Technical Director