Anonymous donor leaves $10 million to Seattle rock radio station
[Photo by: Hrayr Movsisyan/Unsplash]
An anonymous woman named Suzanne loved music—and wanted to give a massive gift to Seattle radio station 90.3 KEXP FM.
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After she passed away, she donated just under $10 million to the station which, according to local news source The Seattle Times, is likely the largest gift to a public radio station in history, besides the a $200 million donation made to National Public Radio by Joan Kroc.
The news station told the news source that they'll be placing a bulk of the money on reserve and provide money for educational programs aimed at inspiring younger audiences to engage in music, programming for emerging artists and create experiences for aspiring DJs and music journalists.
“It’s pretty intense,” Betsy Troutman, KEXP director of development, said on the news of the donation. “I was shocked and started crying… The thought that she would do this is mind-blowing to me.
“(Suzanne) had shared with me once or twice, kind of casually, that she had made plans for KEXP in her estate… I didn’t think that it would come when I was here.”
The local news source shared that the station honored Suzanne’s life and love of music, playing a special set of programming dedicated to her eclectic music interest.
