Grantee Profile: KDNA Radio

How do you help farm workers if they don't speak English and have no legal standing to protect themselves in the courts or apply for government benefits such as Medicaid?

Ever since Ricardo Garcia marched with Cesar Chavez as part of the farm workers' movement in the 1960s, he has devoted his life to answering this vexing question. It's often the topic of conversation on KDNA, the Spanish-language public radio station that Garcia and other Mexican-American activists founded in the Yakima Valley town of Granger, Wash., in 1979.

"We're just like National Public Radio," Garcia explained. "Except our listeners speak Spanish."

Radio as a Center for Community

KDNA (the call letters spell out cadena, which means "chain" in Spanish) is more than just a radio station. Also known as the Northwest Communities Education Center, it is the hub of community life in and around Granger.

When the U.S. Congress was debating immigration policy in the spring of 2007, hundreds of people flocked to the station to hear experts explain the issues. Thousands more listened to the live broadcast on the radio.

Farm workers in Granger need weather information to gauge when to pick asparagus or prune trees. Most don't have access to the Internet (except at KDNA's technology center), and the television news is in English, so they listen to KDNA. Or they telephone the station and ask for the day's forecast.

Community members want a say in what happens at their children's schools, so KDNA interviews local school superintendents and education experts once a month and takes calls from listeners.

Immigrants also want to learn English and apply for citizenship. KDNA has responded by offering classes to dozens of local residents free of charge. The volunteer who teaches the citizenship classes works in a law office in Yakima, and she also helps her students fill out their paperwork when they're ready to file an application.

Other people just want to hear great salsa music. And they get that, too.

A New Space to Share

To serve all these needs, KDNA is building new offices, which it will share with other nonprofits that provide critical help for people who live in and around Granger. The current headquarters, a 19th-century relic, has survived fires and an infestation of bats, and it is past time to replace it. The station has raised money, including a grant from the foundation, to fund the new construction. We're contributing to the effort because KDNA is a perfect fit for the mission of our Pacific Northwest initiative, which helps organizations dedicated to improving the lives of low-income children and families in our home region.

At the new headquarters, farm workers also will be able to get legal assistance from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and domestic violence counseling through the Consejo Counseling and Referral Service. A new research institute looking into the health effects of pesticides and other chemicals used on farms will be among the tenants, too. (According to Garcia, environmental justice issues are becoming increasingly important to his listeners.)

Loyal Listeners

Over the years, the farm workers in Granger have developed an unbreakable loyalty to KDNA. The town's population is about 8,000, but during peak hours as many as 15,000 people in town and the surrounding communities are tuned in to KDNA.

During the annual membership drive in May, listeners pour into the station to pay their $20 dues. One man desperately wanted to show his support, but he simply didn't have the money. However, as a talented wood worker, he did own a magnificent chest of drawers he'd built that was easily worth several hundred dollars. The man hauled it to the station in his truck in the hope that KDNA would accept the furniture as dues in lieu of $20. He is now a proud member of KDNA.