Nebraska Christian radio network collects $1M in single day of fundraising (2024)

Stan Parker has never done anything small. When he suited up for the Huskers in the early 1980s, he was a 290-pound lineman, which was considered huge at that time.

His 2022 mayoral run in Lincoln — "It was something I felt strongly about," he said of the campaign, which ended with a primary loss to Suzanne Geist — was also a big deal even if it didn't end as he had hoped.

So when the MyBridge Radio founder and executive director — now, at 60, a slimmed-down version of his former self at 220 pounds — told his staff of the plan to raise a million dollars in a single day, well, the grandeur of the goal wasn't lost on them.

"My eyes got kind of big when he told us," said Rachel Parker, Stan's wife and MyBridge's treasurer.

She knows better than anyone that her husband thinks big. And there's nothing bigger in his life than his Christian faith. It's what was guiding him this time, too, he said.

"I know Stan and if he felt the need to set a high number, it was God nudging him," said Dave Chally, a Kearney resident and chair of the MyBridge board of directors.

It was a big number, he admits — one that should have caused everyone in his sphere to do a double-take just to comprehend its enormity.

But isn't that the epitome of faith? The essence of believing, of buying into the notion that miracles — seemingly bigger-than-life endeavors — are possible?

"All our eyes got big — it was sobering," Stan Parker said. "Sometimes you're like, 'Well, what if it doesn't happen? How does that reflect on the God that we say we are trusting?'

"When things don't work as intended, it's my fault. I must have missed it on that one. We know that God never fails, never lets you down."

It didn't happen this time, either, he says.

On May 2 the MyBridge team began its fundraising mission before the sun came up. It had planned to take calls all day — and the next day, too, if needed — to get to the stated goal.

It wasn't necessary. It took a little more than three hours to surpass a million dollars.

"People used to think of it as an unattainable number," Chally said. "It's a huge number and to do it in a day is a miracle."

The tears flowed freely. The staff of about three dozen people and a handful of volunteers whooped it up and were still excited the next day when the celebration continued with a catered lunch.

In all, MyBridge blew past its stated goal by raising more than $1.09 million. More than 755 people made donations that day.

"It was huge," Rachel Parker said. "Our reaction was just 'wow.' ... It was total awe of what God had done. We were standing on holy ground. God was present that day. It was something we couldn't have done on our own.

"You remember those moments. We were blown away."

Days like that are what prompted Stan Parker to start MyBridge — a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization consisting of a network of radio stations and ministries throughout Nebraska — about 20 years ago.

It grew out of what was left from an organization called Mission Nebraska, which he founded a few years earlier to have a positive impact on Nebraska.

"It just kind of morphed into MyBridge and continues to grow and develop," he said.

MyBridge consists of three components — the biggest being the Christian music radio stations that blanket Nebraska with 16 radio signals and some online programming — meant to spread the Christian faith.

Another is currently invested in about a dozen nonprofit ministries — from leadership development to strategic planning — across Nebraska, while a third component works with developing nations to identify faith-based leaders and offer them training.

And that's why MyBridge conducts big, lofty and aspirational fundraising efforts, Stan Parker said.

"We don't do commercials," he said. "It's got to come from people who believe what we do and have that thing — an internal value system — that we have."

On May 2, about 10 phone lines were set up throughout the radio studio and staff members took calls from people throughout the state.

There were corporate donations, a lot of pledges of $10 and $20 and even a family of six siblings who pooled their allowances together to make a small — and meaningful — contribution.

"It was amazing to hear stories like that," said Carolyn Simmons, a MyBridge ministry assistant. "There is overwhelming thankfulness to be a part of something like that."

A good portion of the raised funds — about half of them live contributions and the other half matching funds from some of MyBridge's big-dollar donors — have already been earmarked for various projects.

One such project is putting a translator into a radio signal in North Platte, a city with a large Hispanic population that will grow even bigger with the construction of a new meatpacking plant there, that will grow the small 90-watt signal to 100,000 watts.

It will have a radius of about 15 miles and will become MyBridge's first high-definition radio station.

Another project includes increasing the signal in Valentine, which will allow it to be heard on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

"We're Nebraska-focused, but we always have bleed-over obviously," Stan Parker said. "There's stuff that we get excited about, one of which is where we actually cover part of — not all, but part of — a pretty hard place to reach."

Reaching as many people as possible has always been the goal. But that's seldom accomplished with the loudest voice. Instead, the message matters, and it's hard to argue with the outcome this time.

"It's what we call a miracle," he said. "We don't just throw around that word lightly. We define a miracle as something that happens that would not have happened if God had not been there."