Youngstown Radio Reading Service Celebrates 30 Years with Special Programs

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Youngstown Radio Reading Service will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its location inside Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries this month.

The celebration will include two half-hour anniversary programs featuring Goodwill employees and volunteers who have been part of the service. The programs will air at 2 p.m. March 1 and 8, and will replay again at 8:30 p.m. both days.

“What our Radio Reading Service has accomplished is extraordinary,” said Goodwill Interim CEO Annie Phillips.

“Our YRRS team is made up of a group of dedicated individuals who are enthusiastic about executing the mission of Youngstown Goodwill and Radio Reading.”

YRRS is a nonprofit radio station that provides access to information for people who are blind or print impaired. The service, which began broadcasting in 1976, operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Volunteers read content from magazines, books and newspapers, as well as produce a variety of original interview shows.

YRRS was located on the campus of Youngstown State University for two years before moving into studios at the Youngstown Society for the Blind and Disabled in 1978. YRRS moved into its current location at Youngstown Goodwill’s offices on Belmont Avenue when YSBD closed in 1992.

“There was a lot of unknowns when we came over from the Society of the Blind and Disabled,” said Mike Bosela, a technician with YRRS.

“I soon learned that Goodwill was a nurturing, understanding and welcoming environment.”

YRRS is available on specially tuned radios that are provided free to listeners and on the Goodwill website and on Amazon Alexa with the skill name “Goodwill Radio Youngstown.”

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.