Tuesday evening the Bainbridge City Council unanimously approved a zoning request that will allow for a new low-powered FM radio station in Bainbridge.
“Our goal is to reach the community and to program something different in Bainbridge,” Lenoris Clary said while addressing the Council on behalf of Community Helping Hand Outreach, Inc.
Clary said that the organization wants to work with other various nonprofits in Bainbridge and Decatur County to increase awareness about events in town and to be an educational avenue, teaching community members about HIV, teen pregnancy and more.
“Listening to his presentation, it sounds like he plans to do a lot of ‘free work,’” said Councilman Luther Conyers, “and it sounds like it has a real religious overtone. It might be a good thing for the city.”
Community Helping Hand Outreach, Inc. and WKLD 92.7 FM have acquired a site for installing a 100-foot tower on the 1400 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.
According to the organization’s zoning application, “CHHO is composed of several components that encompass the ministries of compassion and advocacy, church and societal issues, religion and race, and health and welfare concerns.”
The organization attempts to address those concerns by providing HIV/AIDS education, health screenings, back-to-school drives, voter registration and more.
“From the standpoint of improving communication on all of the worthwhile events and services that are offered from the organizations that he named — that’s always a good thing, improving communication,” said Councilwoman Glennie Bench. “We were talking about it our Hospital Authority meeting. The health fair, for instance, is something we’ve really worked to get community turnout for, and communication is the key because it’s a very valuable service, and we want to reach the whole community. I think that’s going to be an avenue that will help us.”
Councilwoman Roslyn Palmer said that the station could provide a “needed service,” and Councilman Phil Long said that outreach for Bainbridge and Decatur County youth is always a good thing.
“The goal is to get involved with the Decatur County School System, Memorial Hospital, the American Red Cross, any non profit organization,” Clary said. “It’s a goal to bring local radio to Bainbridge.”