The 2023 Sun Radiothon combined the Sun Radio Foundation’s commitment to local people and local music with its get up and go attitude in a two day live broadcast that showcased various performances and raised over $50,000 in donations. With the Sun Radio Recharge COVID-19 relief program, Sun Radio raised over $250,000 and provided financial relief to over 500 Central Texas musicians, sound techs, and roadies (and counting). Beyond raising money, Sun Radio also promotes Central Texas musicians by featuring them on air every day. Programs like Pioneers of Sun Radio, Texas Radio Live, The Sound of Our Town, Off the Grid Programming and A Hill Country Saturday pays respect, teaches, curates and supports Texas music culture.

Sun Radio is the largest solar-powered station in the world thanks to the foundation and its solar partners installing over 125,000 watts of clean energy solar panels (and Green energy offsets) at our studios in Austin, tower site in Westlake, and KCTI-FM in Gonzales. The Sun Radio Foundation aims for all Sun Radio affiliates to be powered with green energy sources by 2025. The Sun Radio Foundation also provides electric, hybrid and high-MPG vehicles as alternative sources of transportation to some employees whose automobiles do not reach their desired emissions and gas mileage standards.

Since it’s conception, the foundation has saved 11 Central Texas community radio stations that were once off the air. Expanding outside the U.S., the foundation has also donated time, money, and expertise to local stations abroad in Haiti and Puerto Rico to give a voice back to these community lighthouses who do not receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Most recently, as part of the Sun Radio Recharge program, the Sun Radio Foundation gifted five COVID-19 relief grants to non-commercial radio stations nationwide to help stay afloat during the tumultuous times of 2020. In total, the foundation has donated over $250,000 back to community radio nationwide.

In 2023, the Sun Radiothon added over $50,000 in funds to the Sun Radio Foundation. In 2022, the foundation raised over $30,000 with $13,000 of that plus $100 gas cards going to local touring musicians. Several thousand dollars also went to community causes like the Operation Blue Santa Program and PAWS Shelter of Central Texas. In 2021, over $50,000 across 500 checks were given to locals by the foundation in just five days following historic severe winter storms. The Sun Radio Foundation is dedicated to Central Texas communities.