By Amena Anderson
Senior reporter

His Kids Radio is leaving Cornerstone University radio.

With the loss of income from donors for CU radio due to the slump economy, CU radio has decided to find another radio ministry to take charge of His Kids Radio, said Dodd Morris, director of His Kids Radio.

CU radio will not sell His Kids Radio, but instead give it away to a ministry that can “take over the expenses and grow the ministry,” Morris said.

His Kids radio will remain on the air but will lose its live hosting feed, Morris said.

Morris and Amanda Hildabrand, His Kids program director, have been off the air since Labor Day as the station transitioned into autopilot mode to save money on staffing.

In autopilot, the station will be completely run by computers and satellite to keep stories and songs on the air, Morris said. He also said that the change will not affect HisKids.net.

Morris will take on a new role as director of operations and media integration for CU radio and Hildabrand will be the Program Director for WayFM.

Chris Lemke, interim vice president of broadcasting, said that CU radio seriously considered the idea in June. Two months later, a memo was sent to CU faculty and staff indicating the final decision to “discontinue His Kids Radio.”

The search for a new owner and location will begin in October and CU radio will put together a prospectus about His Kids Radio to share with potential investors, Morris said.

The prospectus will show the impact the station has on listeners, Morris said, and the investment it will take to continue the station in a new home.

Morris said it takes a quarter of a million dollars per year to keep the station radio running, and Lemke said this year’s finances weren’t positive.

“The end of 2009, it was difficult to make ends meet. The end of 2008, it was easy to make ends meet,” Lemke said. “Now going into 2010, His Kids Radio is struggling.”

Lemke said that His Kids Radio’s financial income has never met expectations.

“It never had a financial return on investment,” Lemke said, but “it had an incredible investment in lives changed.”

Even though His Kids Radio has reached many lives, Lemke said bills can’t be paid by changed lives.

“The ministry isn’t about the money, but it takes money to do ministry,” Lemke said.

Since CU radio is nonprofit, its monetary resources come from donations. But with the economic downturn, donations aren’t as constant.

“The desire [to donate] hasn’t changed, but the capacity for commitment has changed,” Lemke said.

In the past, Lemke said that supplemental income for His Kids radio came from the other three CU radio ministries: WCSG, WayFM and Mission Network News.

Lemke said CU radio took “money that exceeded our budget and invested it into His Kids Radio.”

Morris said that same was done for the other three ministries when one of the stations had a tough financial year.

But now the other three radio stations are going through hard times and CU administration said to Lemke “How are we going to fix it?”

“And that’s a right question,” Lemke said, so CU radio decided to cut expenses and relocate His Kids Radio. The station would have celebrated 20 years of existence at CU in October.

“From a business standpoint, it wasn’t a difficult decision,” Lemke said. “From a ministry standpoint, the decision was incredibly difficult.”

He said that many children accept Christ between the ages of five and eight years of age. Also, with His Kids Radio, children are exposed to the gospel 24 hours of the day, seven days per week.

“How do you put a price tag on that?” Lemke said. “There is nothing out there in the country like His Kids Radio.”

“It’s so unique,” Morris said about the station. “Kids need it now more than ever.”

Morris said CU radio is looking for someone who has a heart for children, has an online ministry and can invest in live programming and marketing.

“CU radio has a good repuation within the industry,” said Morris, who has worked for His Kids Radio since its beginning in 1989. “[We are] trusting God for the next miracle in His Kids Radio.”

Although His Kids Radio is leaving, Morris said he’s content.

“No regrets on the investment,” Morris said, “because we have invested and changed lives for kids.”