Richard (Dick) Leavitt
was such a man. He only stood about 5'6 but his footprint covered much of North Central North Dakota and a bit of Canada as well.
Dick left a successful career in sales in order to spread God's word. He purchase a secular radio station and turned it into a Christian radio station... the only one in a very large rural area.
After a year of ownership it looked as if it may have been all for not as the expence of operating the radio station was to much.
Dick knew he could keep the station alive if he allowed the advertising of products that went across the gains of his Christian principals but that was not an option for Dick.
In a last ditch effort to save Christian radio in the area Dick went to the people, asking them to donate to the station to keep it on the air. The people responded in spades!
KHRT now holds two "Shar-Athons" each year and I'm very happy to be part of them. We just completed our Fall Shar-Athon and people responded with over $40,000 of gifts to help keep Dick's dream alive.
Here is what Wikipedia says about KHRT.
KHRT (106.9 FM and 1320 AM) are two Christian radio stations located in Minot, North Dakota owned and operated by Faith Broadcasting. KHRT-FM concentrates on contemporary Christian music (CCM), while the AM station concentrates on a Southern gospel format. Both stations air satellite fed programming from Salem Communications during the overnights and weekends. The FM station is also rebroadcast on several translators (low-powered rebroadcasters) outside of its main listening area. They stream the FM side on the internet. Though they are classified as commercial radio stations by the FCC, KHRT acts as a nonprofit organization using commercial advertisements as a way to fund, though it also takes donations.
Christian radio played a vital part of my accepting the gift of salvation that Christ offers all of us. I am so thankful for men like Dick Leavitt that cared/care for me and others as we spend our time here on Earth. I look forward to seeing Dick again and thanking him for his good work down on Earth.
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