KFSK’s mission is to inform, enlighten and entertain. Each day the station works to provide our community with services that fulfill that mission. The KFSK Community Advisory Board meets regularly to provide staff with any concerns and needs in the community. These meetings provide staff with feedback and information that leads to development of new services. KFSK partners with the local first-responders, fire, EMT-EMS, and police for informative public service announcements. We work with the local hospital to provide weekly health tips and advice. The local US Forest Service office works with KFSK to provide educational information about our natural surroundings in the Tongass National Forest. The station manager serves on the Local Emergency Planning Committee, a vitally important role in the community’s safety and emergency response team. The local Borough government utilizes KFSK’s service daily to reach the community with public service and educational messages. KFSK broadcasts bimonthly Assembly Meetings live and provides the public access to those elected officials through monthly call-in programs. The school board receives the same access, monthly rather than bi-monthly. Local non-profits and the general public have an opportunity twice each week to announce for themselves any events or information of interest to the public, or promote their own mission on a live community call-in program. KFSK partners with many local organizations and non-profits to help promote their own missions, including the local tribal organization, the local humane association, the local school bus drivers, a local group working to prevent domestic violence, the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, the local parks and recreation department….all of these organizations partner with KFSK and produce radio programs for the benefit of the area residents.

The Forest Service produces a weekly program in the KFSK studios – an educational program regarding the flora and fauna within the forest in which we live. The school district bus drivers come into the station and talk live about road conditions and safety tips for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Local hospital professionals come into the station to produce a program regarding health tips and lifestyle advice to lead to a healthier life. WAVE, a local non-profit produces a series of programs to help encourage victims of domestic violence and other victims of abuse to seek help. The local tribal council produces radio modules to promote the risks of smoking and provide resources to seek help in quitting. The local fire department along with emergency medical services personnel produce informational and educational programs regarding best practices and safety tips. The local schools provide the daily lunch menu to be broadcast each morning before the school day. The local assisted living facility also provides the radio station with the evening meal menu and welcomes folks to dinner to join the residents in the dining room. Starting in 2017 two new programs produced in collaboration with some area nonprofits were added to KFSK’s program service – namely Hooked on History with the local Clausen Museum and Frederick Soundings produced in collaboration with the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center – the museum and marine center are each nonproofits and the new radio programs are educational, entertaining and help to promote the mission these nonprofits. From the daily birthday announcements to the occasional funeral notice from the Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, the Chamber of Commerce, and the many local churches and religious organizations – KFSK is a one-stop shop of community information with the broadcast service and online service of the community calendar. The KFSK Community Calendar online has become the default calendar for the local government, the local schools and the Chamber of Commerce. This is the definition of Community Radio and clearly shows that KFSK is a vital part of the community we serve.

One initiative continues, it is a partnership with the local fire department, emergency medical technicians, and the local hospital to disseminate information on best practices to staying safe in the home, on the roads and on the waters of Southeast Alaska. This has been well received in the community and the local Fire Department has secured grant funds to expand this public service series. The local hospital and first-responders have received glowing praise for this information campaign on public radio. The effort has been recognized by the local government as helpful and important initiatives to help improve the quality of life for our community residents. Reducing the number of accidents and promoting safety for all is the goal. As for direct feedback from a partner or person served by KFSK, this is the content of a Facebook post from the Local Petersburg Police Department regarding KFSK service to the community: “Petersburg Police Department would like to offer a special thanks to staff at KFSK for their dedication and commitment to Petersburg, and their service earlier this morning. The crew at KFSK went above and beyond to assist with monitoring information related to the Tsunami Watch and Warning, and were instrumental in keeping the public informed during the tense hours. Thank you KFSK for doing what you do and assisting in keeping us all informed and safe. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Petersburg is a commercial fishing community with four fish processing plants. The processors employ nearly 1,000 transient seasonal workers. This work force is predominantly Spanish-speaking. KFSK has Spanish-speaking volunteers that are familiar with our production facilities. These volunteers have been instrumental in our ability to produce program messages and public service announcements in Spanish. We are always looking to expand this effort and seek out bilingual volunteers to increase our capacity to broadcast important messages in multiple languages.

The Alaska Public Radio Network is a vital link for news and information around the state and KFSK’s dues for the APRN programming service is an important part of our overall service to Alaskans. KFSK News personnel contribute on average 2-3 news stories weekly to this statewide news service, so not only does the dues payment allow us to receive programming it provides us with the avenue to share our local content with a statewide audience. We could not afford the statewide network dues without the continued support of the CSG revenue. The station’s interconnect fees for the PRSS system is also paid with the CSG revenue. Ongoing expenses associated with four translator signals to remote areas are also covered in the budget by revenue from KFSK’s CPB funding.