Jennifer Smart Foundation to Purchase Disney Station
* M E D I A A L E R T *
Teen’s Foundation Signs Purchase Agreement with Disney
Newly Branded Radio Station Will Benefit Community and Charities, Honor Grandmother
LAKE ELSINORE, CA and ALBUQUERQUE, NM – October 4, 2010 – The non-profit Jennifer Smart Foundation has entered into an agreement to purchase former Radio Disney affiliate KALY AM 1240 in Albuquerque, NM. Pending FCC approval, the JENNiRADIO format for tweens, teens and families will begin airing on the station later this year.
KALY AM 1240 will be wholly owned by the Jennifer Smart Foundation, and its net income will go to national charities and worthy causes in the local community.
As a tribute to her late grandmother who battled cancer, 14-year-old Jennifer Smart started the charitable foundation to assist organizations and raise awareness of issues regarding kids’ health, education, animals, and the environment. “No one should have to suffer the way my grandma did,” Jennifer said. “And if I can do anything to help or inspire anyone else to get involved, I know Grandma would be proud.”
Through the foundation, Jennifer continues to take her support of organizations like World Wildlife Fund and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to the next level. “People were always impressed that I started setting aside money for charity at a very young age. I wanted to make sure kids know you’re never too young to help out.”
The founding of her own charity was bittersweet, however, as her grandmother passed away just five days before the organization’s first event – a benefit screening of Jennifer’s first movie role, “The Haunting of Winchester House.”
Considering she’s still in her early teens, Jennifer has had a long career in broadcasting. She started in radio at the age of 6, and was the youngest nationally-syndicated radio talk show host for five years. She started interviewing stars on red carpets at the age of 8, and has interviewed more celebrities than anyone else her age. In 2007, she toured the US with her parents, broadcasting their weekend program from a different state each week. She created her own online radio format for tweens, teens and families, called JENNiRADIO, which features age-appropriate music, her celebrity interviews, DVD and web site reviews, and other exclusive content.
For more information about Jennifer Smart, JENNiRADIO, and the Jennifer Smart Foundation, visit JENNiRADIO.com and JenniferSmartFoundation.org.
Photos available here: http://gallery.me.com/smartfamilymedia#100057
###
Press contact:
Meredith Stewart
Jennifer Smart Foundation
mer@jennifersmart.com
(951) 244-6205
Great that you are buying the Albuquerque Radio Station.
Is your interest to educate or other. Please help kids understand their voice is their own, and not to be broadcast for commercial interest. Amateur Radio is a Privilege for all ages. Amateur operators do not buy or sell stations. The news paper article sub title read Amateur Broadcaster. Let the kids know Amateur Radio and Amatuer Broadcaster are different. The Latin word “amator” for the love of what they do; and not to buy and sell airwaves or stations.Broadcasters are the opposite. You should pay for your own place away from commercial areas and learn from amateurs, in my opinion. Kids are great, please help them express themselves and not what you have impressed opon them. Kids have talents that need attention, not Hollywood money or Idolarity. Foundations serve a purpose however their was no constitution mentioned on website or other. Do not think I’m to critical, look at my point of view and the readers point of view, the listeners point of view, and give me a response. Thanks
Thank you for your comments. I established the Jennifer Smart Foundation to help kids and the causes that are important to them, and the Find Your Voice program does just that. We coach kids to help them improve communication skills and self esteem, and give them a platform to share their messages with a broader audience. We guide them in crafting effective messages, and help them determine topics to relate to the audience, based on their own experiences and interests. We encourage kids to talk about anything they are passionate about, whether it be school, the arts, clubs, sports, or causes they support. We do not tell them what to share, we just help them express it. We are in the middle of re-vamping our web site, to include archives of our Find Your Voice kids’ shows. Once these are available, I invite you to listen to what they have to say, and I’m sure that you will find that our Find Your Voice program has nothing to do with commercialism or Hollywood. It’s all about giving kids a means to share what’s important to them. We feel all kids should have a voice, and that sharing their messages can be life-changing, both for them and those they reach.
Two more things to address in your comments:
1.) We no longer own the radio station we purchased from Radio Disney in Albuquerque, but when we did, we ran it as a non-commercial station. The station we run now in southern California is an LP-FM, which is by mandate a non-commercial station. As we are listener-supported, much like a PBS station, we thank our supporters with on-air messages, but do not sell commercial time on our station.
2.) As for the use of the word “amateur” in the newspaper article, that was a choice made by the reporter. I do what I do because I love it, and to benefit others.