Homelessness Marathon to air today on WEFT 90.1 FM

CHAMPAIGN – As a closer to its second annual Radio Food Drive with the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, WEFT 90.1 FM will air the 13th annual Homelessness Marathon, which will be broadcast live from the streets of Detroit starting at 6 p.m. today.

The 14-hour nationwide broadcast, through 8 a.m. Wednesday, will carry the voices of the homeless, advocates for housing and shelter, and other guests. The broadcast will be heard on more than 150 stations nationwide, and at WEFT’s Web cast at http://www.weft.org.

There will be a live remote from Bloomington, Ind., on homeless families, a discussion with homeless people in Los Angeles, and homeless people in America and Canada comparing notes on how they get help with medical issues, co-hosted by a station in Windsor, Ontario.

Other topics will include the story of Safe Haven, the tent community in Champaign-Urbana; updates on the Katrina relief effort in Mississippi; and near the end of the broadcast, homeless people talking to representatives of the mayor’s office in Detroit.

WEFT will host a final Radio Food Drive benefit at 8 p.m. Thursday live at 88 Broadway, Lincoln Square Mall, Urbana with WEFT’s Monday morning Jazz Host, Mr. Sensation and his group, The Sensations, performing covers and originals. All proceeds will benefit the station and the Eastern Illinois Food Bank.