Young Storytellers Capture Unsung Heroes with Vocalo Radio

Maple tree tapping at Northwestern University; scholarships for undocumented college hopefuls; a theatre company that promotes healing through performance; and an LGBT safe haven at a Christian college: These are just a few stories coming your way from the Vocalo Storytellers Workshop series, The Chicago Community Trust’s latest Stories of Philanthropy partnership.

Broadcasting right out of Navy Pier, Vocalo is a next generation public radio station that connects with younger, culturally diverse audiences through music and stories. The station shares the Trust’s Centennial mission to inspire communities to “make big things happen.”

Workshop participants will learn from Chicago Public Media professionals how to pitch and produce their own radio segments. They’ll travel all over the city to connect with neighborhoods, community leaders and unsung heroes who are doing interesting and meaningful work—work that wouldn’t often get looked at as “philanthropic,” but most certainly should.

Rocio Santos, host/producer for Vocalo’s Domingos en Español and workshop curator, says, “We know so little of philanthropy. We always think about organizations or foundations, but we never think about people being philanthropists. This workshop and working with the storytellers changed my mind… anybody in the world is a philanthropist in a way, just by giving back.”

The next Vocalo Storytellers Workshop will be in Spanish; the application deadline is July 17. All workshops are free and equipment will be provided.

Storytelling is powerful. It can motivate and activate an entire movement. That’s the Trust’s hope with partners like Vocalo: to spark a civic movement across the Chicagoland region. Stories of Philanthropy uncovers the beautiful truth that everyone can be, and probably already is, a philanthropist. By hearing the stories of the people doing good in our region, the Trust hopes that more people are inspired to come together and strengthen our communities by investing their time, their talents and their resources.

Tune in to Vocalo’s Morning AMp every Thursday, from July 9 until August 6, at 9:00am for interviews with the storytellers.