Listeners to 670 the Score came together for a good cause on Wednesday. The What About Chicago Radiothon was the brainchild of Danny Parkins and saw the station’s afternoon host on air for 24 consecutive hours in an effort to raise money for Athletes for Justice and Austin Harvest. According to program director Mitch Rosen, as of Thursday morning, the event raised more than $660,000.
“I would say it was a tremendous amount of talking 24 hours,” Parkins told BSM when asked how he felt at the end of the marathon broadcast. “But but we did it. So it was it was all worth it.”
That total came from over 4000 unique donors, Parkins said. He tipped his hat to Score listeners and anonymous donors who made individual donations in the thousands of dollars range.
Parkins says he was also impressed with the sports media’s willingness to embrace the fundraiser. He credits his longtime friend Nick Wright of FS1 for leading the charge and drawing $500 donations from colleagues like Booger McFarland and PFT Commenter. But Danny Parkins has plenty of friends in the sports media. It wasn’t just people connected to Nick Wright that got involved.
“My buddy Jeff Passan donated a thousand bucks, and for the memo that he put on a little donation line online was like ‘anything to get Parkins to shut up’ or something like that,” Parkins said.
Other celebrities that gave to the cause included Theo Epstein and Olin Kruetz.
“What an incredible 24 hours,” Rosen told BSM. “The Score asked and the audience delivered for Austin Harvest to build a permanent Food Mart! I can’t thank our dedicated listeners, our Score team, Danny Parkins who led all of us, and Sam Acho enough. What a 24 hours of raising money for a great cause! Thank you, Chicago!”
“This radiothon was a dream come true,” shared Sam Acho, Founder and President, Athletes for Justice. “Over 4,000 individuals gave, over $600,000 raised, and we’re just getting started. I love y’all. This is just the beginning.”
In a company press release, Rachel Williamson, Regional President and Market Manager of Audacy Chicago added “I’m so incredibly proud of our team for rallying together and using our platform to support a great cause with Athletes for Justice. We are also so appreciative to our partners’ generous donations and our selfless listeners who rose to the occasion to support the mission.”
Parkins named the radiothon “What About Chicago” as a tongue-in-cheek jab at people that use the phrase in an insincere and derogatory way to score political points at the city’s expense. He told Barrett Sports Media that the he isn’t sure if the city totally took the phrase back thanks to the radiothon. He just hopes that anytime it is said on cable news or social media people can point out that “What About Chicago” was used to do some good.
“Am I tremendously proud of the fact that that some weird, defiant name that not everybody understood when I pitched it to them as the name of the radiothon resonated in a big way, both locally and nationally? Second to the actual accomplishment, the funding of the construction of the grocery store, it is the thing I am most proud of.”
