Let the bids get underway
— Courtesy Photo Panhandle Community Radio, KRFY 88.5 FM in Sandpoint, is hosting an online auction from Oct. 16-23. Items pictured here will be up for grabs, as well as several other items including a tropical vacation, Seahawks tickets and more.
SANDPOINT — Panhandle Community Radio, KRFY 88.5 FM, is hosting an online auction to give the public an opportunity to support Sandpoint's community radio station.
"We have had very generous support from the community," said Julie Perchynski, KRFY underwriting coordinator.
Around 55 items have been donated, ranging from a $20 gift certificate to a tropical vacation at the Turks and Caicos Islands. Other auction items include a weekend luxury condo at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, tickets for a 2017 preseason Seahawks game with a stay at the Westlin Hotel in Seattle, wine, dinner, art, music and more.
The online auction is currently available for preview at biddingforgood.com./KRFY and bidding opens Sunday, Oct. 16 and ends Oct. 23.
KRFY is a full-power, commercial free, nonprofit, community radio station. Funds raised from the auction will benefit the station, which is funded primarily by more than 35 underwriters in the local business community.
The radio station went live in 2011 with "minimal" air time, and today it is ranked as the second-most listened to local radio station, said station manager Suzy Prez.
"It's had some ups and downs and glitches, but the business community and other people who believed in strengthening our community through having a community radio station came together and decided 'yes' we want this radio station, so the financial backing came together, too," Prez said.
The funds to build the station came primarily from grants and individual donors, Prez said. Costs of building included equipment, towers, transmitters and boosters, along with application fees and lawyers specializing in Federal Communications Commission applications.
The program schedule for KRFY includes a mix of automated and live shows, from the automated overnight jazz and Grateful Dead music hours to local music shows and the live morning show with local news, events, interviews weather and current events done by a local broadcaster.
"The secret ingredient, I feel, is our volunteers," Prez said.
All broadcasters are volunteers and the station has two paid part-time employees.
Information, links and scheduling can be found at krfy.org.