Kingston’s only campus and community radio station CFRC 101.9 is using its airwaves to connect the community while providing critical COVID-19 information and updates.

Radio Pandemic is a new call-in show that discusses news and events related to the pandemic and helps answer difficult questions including what this world may be like when this is over.

The show airs Mondays from 1-2 pm, Wednesdays from 1-3 pm and Fridays from 8-9 pm. Listeners can call during those times at 613-533-CFRC to get on the air or request a song. Archives of the program can be found at  https://www.cfrc.ca/program_archive.

“When the instructions for people to start practicing social/physical distancing in the Kingston area were first publicized, my friends and I had a conversation about what we should do about the situation,” says volunteer Rachel Mendl. “We were concerned about the toll these prevention practices will take on people's emotional and mental well-being and on our sense of community. Someone floated the idea of a call-in radio show and we proposed it to the radio station the next day.”

CFRC station manager Dinah Jansen says the show is an important part of CFRC’s mandate.

“We want to ensure we are serving the whole community with our programming. It’s important to bring critical information to our listeners.”

The programming for the show is still being developed. Lynda Colgan (Education) was the first academic guest on the show. She called in and talked about how to keep children educationally engaged while staying at home.

“We are focusing on hearing from members of the Queen's and Kingston community at large right now and promoting the show so that anybody can call in, but we're definitely hoping to hear more expert or academic opinions too,” says Rachel. “We hope that anybody who has an idea they'd like to share or some information that might help others get through this crisis will reach out to us.”

CFRC has also launched three more lighthearted programs to help keep the Queen’s community connected, including live interactive Grad Club Trivia at 9 pm Thursdays and Tales and Stories for Young Listeners with former Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf Sundays at 10 am. Dr. Woolf is reading children’s stories and is hoping other families will join in the reading.

Another program entitled Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah features simple recipes submitted by community members that help stretch food resources for people and families in isolation and airs on Wednesdays at 5 PM.

Grad Club Trivia Part Two is a virtual version of the highly popular Grad Club Trivia where teams compete in random categories to earn trivia greatness. Jansen says last week there were 86 teams from around the world using various social media app to play. For more information about the event visit the Facebook page.

“I’m delighted with the community engagement from Queen’s, Kingston and beyond with CFRC’s special programming initiatives during the COVID crisis,” says Jansen. “We’re here to help by providing critical information over the airwaves in addition to fun interactive broadcasts that the whole community can participate in from their homes.”

Jansen invites community members to participate in the CFRC programming directly by submitting recipes and even recordings of children’s stories to station@cfrc.ca.