Once a year, I ask friends & family to support XRAY. Now that I've been the president of XRAY's board for ~2 years, I can really bloviate about the station. Let me share a few quick highlights!

1. I'm excited to report that this year we raised $140,000 earlier this year to buy the primary license we use to broadcast in Portland. Raising that money -- in excess of our normal operating budget -- was daunting. But we got there! About 1/2 the money came from foundations & the other half from individuals in the community. I am grateful for their support! Buying the license felt like an existential task for the station & I am quite relieved. ...and now back to our regular fundraising!

2. XRAY's done a LOT of work around the upcoming local election. Here in Portland, not only are we voting for a new mayor, we're voting in an election that will result in an entirely new system of goverment: 12 councilors from 4 geographical districts, a mayor, and a city manager vs. the old system of 4 councilors + a mayor, all elected citywide. AND we're using ranked-choice balloting for the first time. Turnout will automatically be high -- it always is in our vote-by-mail state -- but the Federal elections tend to dominate media / public attention. So, XRAY has partnered with North Star Civic on a large candidate forum (October 14th) as well as a collection of seventy candidate videos + other instructional materials that voters can access as they navigate their ballots. The station doesn't have a dedicated news/public affairs staff, so these efforts are led by our 3-person staff that is primarily tasked with fundraising, keeping the books, and running the broadcast operations. To create all of this election content in addition to their regular responsibilities is a big lift -- and a big contribution towards the community that I'm proud of.

3. The station continues to churn out great music programs hosted by folks from the community. A couple that I've never written about, but have been enjoying: The "In" Crowd, hosted by the Wayward Girls Soul Club is a Saturday stalwart for me. Soul/funk/R&B in different doses from week to week -- always a pleasure. Meanwhile, in the middle of the week I'm always happy to catch some Music for Neighbors on Wednesdays. Pretty squarely rooted in the indie rock of my youth, there's a lot of comfort in nostalgia. Remeber, you can listen to dozens, sometimes hundreds, of past episodes through our archives if you find a show that you like. Happy to make personalized recommendations to donors!

Community radio needs support from the community! If you can kick in a few bucks, please help keep XRAY out. Thanks!

PS. Check out the merch, designed by my friend Wyeth. I'm pretty excited about the colors! If you give $70 here & you want a sweatshirt, just put that in your comments. Thanks!