LIBERTY — Some of those who volunteer for a longtime broadcasting service are blind, but it’s easy to see the impact they have left on many of their audience members.
“We don’t exist without people coming in and reading,” Mike Muder, program coordinator for the Youngstown Radio Reading Services, said. “We’re very fortunate to have them.”
Muder was praising the 75 to 100 area volunteers who give their time to YRRS, a nonprofit organization that lists as its mission offering printed information to those who are vision or print-impaired. The service also is available on a sideband of WYSU-FM 88.5, which requires a special, free radio, he noted.
The organization, which was established May 28, 1976, is celebrating its 30th anniversary at Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries Inc., 2707 Belmont Ave. Beforehand, YRRS had operated for the first two years at Youngstown State University, then in the former Youngstown Society for the Blind and Disabled building on Glenwood Avenue until it closed in March 1992. Soon after, YRRS moved to its current location, Muder explained.
The facility is made up of six studios, including a few one-person rooms from where volunteers read and broadcast prerecorded local and national news, information from books and magazines. They also conduct one-on-one interviews, some of which include special-interest topics.
The programs include about two hours of daily evening readings from the Tribune Chronicle that include obituaries and local events, both of which are popular among many listeners, Muder noted.
Read more in Monday’s Tribune Chronicle.