KRUU Founder Roland Wells

Receives People to People Humanitarian Award

At the 5th Annual Women (& Men) for Women Gala Benefit fundraiser for the Crisis Center & Womens Shelter sponsored by SEVA last month, KRUU founder Roland Wells was presented with a People to People Humanitarian Award. The People to People Award was created to honor those who have made significant contributions to promote well-being within our community.

Accepting the award, Roland thanked the Crisis Center and SEVA for the work they do and encouraged everyone to become directly involved in volunteering time for non-profits. Also receiving awards were Stacey Hurlin, founder of the ArtLife Society and 1st Fridays ArtWalk, and Michael McBurnie, who has been on the forefront of the legislative battleground to confine Confined Animal Feeding Operations.

The following was the introduction given Wells at the event by KRUU station manager James Moore:

Roland Wells is a 27-year-old who has accomplished amazing things. At 19, he started the Beat Box, a Fairfield youth center, providing young people from all walks of life a place of their own to channel creative energies, explore digital possibilities, and interact socially. By the time the Beat Box closed five years later due to a lack of local funding, it was serving 125 area youths a day in two purchased buildings.

It was during his tenure as Beat Box director that Wells applied for, and received, a construction permit to build a low-power radio station, doing the engineering specs himself. With the flip of a switch on September 30, 2006, “KRUU-LP 100.1 FM The Voice of Fairfield, Iowa” began broadcasting 168 hours a week.

15,000 hours of volunteer time have gone into the project so far. Over 100 deejays and show hosts are producing 75 shows a week with over 80 hours of live broadcasting, an incredible tribute to the creativity of this amazing town. 99 percent homegrown, KRUU also streams worldwide, attracts 1200 visitors a day to its website, and has regular listeners from over 30 countries.

Featured in the Des Moines Register, honored with a 2006 Community Improvement Award by the local Chamber of Commerce, and referred to as leading the open radio revolution by London-based freelance writer Richard Poynder, KRUU caught the attention of the governor’s commission, who considered it instrumental in helping Fairfield gain its “Great Places” designation.

“Efforts like KRUU radio showed the commission that the entrepreneurial vitality of the community was real and viable,” said David DuBois of the Fairfield Creative Alliance, calling KRUU-FM “a perfect example of taking an idea that wasn’t on anyone’s radar six months ago, but only a gleam in someone’s eye, and making it a sudden operating reality.”

Computers, musical gear, and even the physical location at 405 N. 2nd Street are all a carry-forward from Roland’s efforts with the Beat Box. Neither “liberal” nor “conservative,” KRUU has chosen as its mandate to be neutral. A true community station, multi-generational and multi-cultural, KRUUs mission is to give voice to Fairfield. This valuable community resource is a tribute to the vision of Roland Wells.

A straightforward, likeable, fair, no-nonsense innovator with a great sense of humor, an incredible work ethic, and a fearless spirit, Roland is a community treasure who is practically canonized by those who have worked with him or have been on the receiving end of his community outreach, including countless young people.

People talk about the need to make Iowa more attractive to young people. Perhaps one way of accomplishing that is by honoring and supporting progressive young community leaders like Roland Wells.

For a complete schedule of KRUU shows, visit www.kruufm.com, drop by the station at 405 N. 2nd Street, or call (641) 209-1082.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites