Radio Marathon To Voice Homeless Struggle

On Feb. 12, advocates for the homeless and impoverished will spend an icy Ohio night outside to campaign for awareness of the issue, and a 14-hour broadcast will cover the event. The Seventh Annual Homelessness Marathon airs from Cleveland from 7 p.m., Eastern until 9 a.m., Eastern on Friday, Feb. 13.
The broadcast is America’s longest regularly scheduled pubic affairs program, and is “the most significant media event focusing on homelessness and poverty” according to Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The program will focus on homeless issues nationwide, with calls taken from around the country in hopes of creating momentum for solving the problem. As in past years, the broadcast booth will be set up outside to emphasize the plight of those without shelter.
The event’s founder, Jeremy Weir Alderson, said the marathon puts the homeless on the air and gives them “the chance to tell their stories and talk about the obstacles they face. And from what I’ve seen, America does care.”
There will be no on-air monetary solicitations as “consciousness raising, not fund raising,” is the marathon’s policy. The broadcast is free to radio stations via the NPR and Pacifica satellites and a Webcast.