February 2, 2010

Madge Rothschild Foundation makes Grant to

Northeast Indiana Public Radio

The Madge Rothschild Foundation presented a gift of $300,000 to Northeast Indiana Public Radio as support for the general operations of the area’s only public radio organization. The presentation was made at the NIPR studios at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. The gift will be paid to NIPR in three installments of $100,000 over the next three years.

The gift was presented by Rothschild Foundation representatives, Robert Wagner and Marlene Buesching, friends and advisors of Ms. Rothschild. David Fee, representing Tower Bank, the trustee of the Foundation, was also present. In making the presentation, Mr. Wagner noted that today was Madge Rothschild’s birthday and it was a fitting tribute to be investing in the community in this way.

The Madge Rothschild Foundation was established by the late Madge Rothschild to support non-profit organizations in the Fort Wayne area. Ms. Rothschild was a patron of many community organizations and an avid listener to public radio during her lifetime, according to Marlene Buesching. “This is a very significant gift for the Foundation to make,” says Buesching. “Madge listened to public radio continually and we are pleased to show this support for such an important community resource.”

“This gift has so much meaning to our organization. It comes at a time that we are in need of special support from our community.  It is of a size that makes a unique difference in our operations and it serves as a signal to the community that we are worthy of such significant support, “ noted NIPR General Manager Joan Baumgartner Brown.  “We are pleased to be among the many causes that had particular importance to Madge Rothschild and grateful to the distribution committee for investing in our work at this crucial time. This exceptional grant, coupled with the continued generous support of our individual listeners and business partners, will help to ensure that our organization will continue to thrive.”

In recognition of the grant, the broadcasting studios of NIPR will now be identified as “The Madge Rothschild Studios”.  On air station identification will carry the tag as well.

In January of 2009, NIPR announced plans to put the frequencies that carry classical music programming on the market to combat growing financial pressures.  Focus is being placed on developing more local programming, such as WBOI’s Midday Matters, which debuted last March. WBOI remains the area’s only NPR affiliate and produces a rich schedule of news, information and locally produced music programming.

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