Campaign video created by Justin LeClair. Thanks Justin!

CHSR vs The Polar Vortex

In January, the polar vortex brought a very rapid change in temperature which caused severe leaking all over the station. By the time it was done, two of four studios and one of our offices had to be gutted, a third studio is on the edge, and there's a possibility some pre-emptive work might need to be done in our main, on-air studio.

This isn't something we could have budgeted for, and we need your help to cover our budget -- and to grow beyond this setback and flourish even stronger!

CHSR is Campus and Community Radio

CHSR is one of the oldest campus and community radio stations in Canada. We've been doing alternative radio for 53 years, providing our community with a voice, giving a space where volunteers can discover their passion for radio, learn about their own passion for communication, and share the best alternative music with the world.

Over the last several years, our budget has been getting tighter. Unsteady enrolment means a reduction in our student levy funds. Grants are often hard to come by, and advertising -- especially when you have an alternative station, can be tricky.

We've done quite well for ourselves, however, managing to grow but maintain a balanced budget for quite a few decades. But this year, a major snag: water damage.

Remember the "polar vortex" back in January? Well, it wasn't just massive snowstorms and strange temperatures. It hit us pretty hard. Aging structures combined with rapid swings in temperature bring about disasters, like having waterfalls within our walls.

In short, water poured down from multiple parts of the station at once. At it's peak, we counted 5 different spots all simultaneously dropping water.

We had to shut down two of our four studios immediately, just to play it safe, and shortly after that, we evacuated all the equipment from both rooms. A third studio has been kept in service, but the stained carpet completely removed. Now we're finding that because of the wall construction, the damage may require that studio to be gutted as well, leaving with just our on-air studio. In addition, one of our offices had to be completely emptied, and there were other spots of smaller damage that we need to fix.

As you can imagine, this puts a severe limitation on what we can do. But we persevere, producing as many shows as we can live-to-air and volunteers finding ways to record their shows with portable recorders.

Now, we're looking at rebuilding plans, and trying to figure out what and how we can pay for it all.

But we aren't just looking to settle at where we were -- we're looking to come back stronger than ever, and that's where you come in.

The First $5000

The goal for this campaign is to cover immediate studio repair and rebuild costs. It won't cover all of our costs, but we wanted to start with immediate needs, to get us to a stable and working level. We want to do even more.

We're still working out exact plans, but we're looking at least $10000 to do the necessary work, including replacing all the carpeting, wiring, sound absorption on the walls, as well as replacing the A/C unit that was lost. So, the base goal covers half of that, the rest comes from internal project funds (that we can scrounge together).

But We Have Plans..

Every cent of money that is earned from this campaign can be transformed by CHSR into a new project. We have the largest music library East of Montreal, but we're running out of physical space. We'd like to employ more summer students and part-time employees. We want to update the studio that was damaged, and add a new miniature production studio. We'd love to host more bands. We'd like to host and attend more events, do more remote reporting, maybe even give the staff a small raise for once a decade..

Quirky Perks from an Alternative Station

We strongly feel that community is at the very heart of what we do, and that we serve a role of providing that community with an alternative voice, in just about every way possible. To that end, most of our perks are designed to welcome the community voice on the air, and give you some direct control over some of our shows, in a fun way.

We don't have a lot of swag on hand at the moment, but we've got a button maker and keen volunteers ready to make you a pin you can wear proudly. We'll also be giving away 100% customized mugs, and a number of our shows are offering unique perks of their own. And look for the CHSR VIP Concert Pass, where you can get in free to the CHSR events we hold every year, like the annual Shake'n'Bake concert every fall.

What Happens If You Don't Make Your Goal?

We cry. But then we wipe off our tears, get back up, take a deep breath and get back to work. We'll try to see where we can cut, what repairs can wait for a year (or longer), and make the best with what we've got. We're a resourceful station, stretching every penny beyond the breaking point.

But it will slow us down, and we'll have to leave many of the great plans we've spent the last couple of years building up on the drawing board.

Other Ways You Can Help

Times are tough, and the last thing we want to do is take someone else's last penny. If you can contribute, we thank you deeply, but there are other ways you can help:

• Attend our events: during our Fundrive period (February 10-28) we have multiple events going on around town. Take in the concerts at The Cellar. Drop by during our BBQ. Attend the games night. Look for a full list of events on our website: chsrfm.ca
• Tell everybody! Sometimes it feels like CHSR is Fredericton's best kept secret. No more! Tell everybody you know about the station, and tell them how much we need help. We can't overemphasize how important it is to just get the word out.
• Talk to Alumni! Remember how your uncle mentioned that he used to do radio at UNB in the 70s? Or how your aunt used to listen to this crazy metal show on CHSR in the 80s? We've been educating, entertaining and alternativ'ing for 53 years, and that means a huge number of people have enjoyed the station over time, whether as a volunteer or a listener. Tell them it's time to make a contribution, to give back to the station which gives so much, every day.
• Share it everywhere! Remember to share this on Facebook, post this on Twitter, +1 this on Google Plus, or use any of the share tools offered by Indiegogo or any social media. Let the world ring! Use the hashtag #helpchsr so we can follow your efforts and thank you!

Perks as Add-Ons

To give you a little incentive to boost up your pledge, we're now offering the following perks as add-ons. Simply add this much to your pledge, and get more than one thing!

+$10 Small Room of Big Prizes (CD)

+$15 You Name It!

+$15 Small Room of Big Prizes (Vinyl)

+$30 Daily Listener (Mug, soup cup or plate) (+$6 to ship outside of Canada)

+$30 Challenger

+$30 Super Fan 2XL Shirt (While supplies last) (+$10 to ship outside of Canada)

+$30 CHSR VIP Concert Pass (While supplies last)

Participating Shows

If you're curious about what these shows are, or when to listen, check out our schedule page.

More to be added soon!

Participating Hosts

More to be added soon!

Nameable Things