Our success has come through your support. WEDU is a community-ownedstation and non-profit organization, and as such, relies on funding from our viewers, generous sponsors and corporate partners. And, while WEDU receives funding through other sources, we are proud to say that today WEDU has more than 40,000 annual donors who support and partially fund the educational and entertaining programs that WEDU and PBS have to offer.
WEDU’s exceptional fundraising and management efforts have not gone unnoticed. Charity Navigator, a national organization that rates over 1.5 million non-profits annually, awarded WEDU a 4-star rating, its highest for sound fiscal management for the second consecutive year.
Locally-produced WEDU programs have been honored with numerous awards and nominations including this year’s Emmy® Award for
Central Avenue Remembered and
Dolphin Rescue, and last year’s four Emmy® Awards for
A Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins. One of the station’s most recent productions,
The Florida Dream, was shown on every PBS station in the state this past October, and
The Horses of Proud Spirit, a local half-hour documentary, has been broadcast on many PBS stations throughout the country. Additionally, our interview programs continue to highlight the lives and thoughts of notable individuals who shape our community every day; these programs include our popular, respected weekly public affairs program Florida This Week, hosted by Rob Lorei; WEDU Interview; Up Close with Cathy Unruh and Suncoast Business Forum hosted by Geoff Simon.
The station’s outstanding programming is complemented by our multiple outreach efforts to serve the citizenry of west central Florida. The spirit of our programming is also brought to life throughout the year by engaging and entertaining special events designed to bring you in touch with the very essence of our mission and with fellow supporters who share a passion for the programs brought to you by WEDU and PBS.
One of our station’s noteworthy community outreach efforts, the WEDU Be More Awards™, is an award-winning event now in its third year. This initiative celebrates and provides awareness for the area’s non-profit community and heralds achievements made by its everyday heroes. The success of this program was quickly recognized and has now become a national initiative of PBS; stations across the country will be able to host this type of community outreach and fundraising endeavor as early as May of 2008.
