Last year was a harrowing one for radio station KSTK, as the majority of its annual funding vanished in one fell swoop of federal cuts. But there is some hope on the horizon.

“I can say that all of us at KSTK are grateful for the outpouring of local support and thankful to our supporters,” station manager Cindy Sweat said.

KSTK lost about half of its funding for the current fiscal year when the Trump administration, with congressional approval, pulled back $1.1 billion in previously allocated federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributed money to public radio and TV stations nationwide.

Sweat said the congressional decision “blew a $167,000 hole” in the radio station’s finances. The loss accounted for 53% of its budget.

“The remaining 47% of the budget is from the money raised during regular fundraising events,” she said. “Last year, we raised a little more than $42,000, and this year we have raised around $70,000. So that increase really helps.”

Along with fundraising, Sweat reduced her work hours by 25% for the month of September as part of a cost-saving effort.

“What we found was that the cut hours didn’t leave me with enough time to get everything done,” she said. “But with the funding we have received, we are in a position where we can maintain without any hour cuts.”

She added, “We definitely couldn’t make it without the community support.”

Sweat emphasized that every possibility is being considered as the station puts together its budget for next year.

Much of the help to fill the hole in this year’s budget came from a $101,000 grant from the national Public Media Bridge Fund — a one-time source.

“The bridge fund came about as a result of businesses donating money nationwide to help stations that lost 25% or more of their budget,” Sweat said. “KSTK, of course, met that criteria easily. But it is a one-time thing, and there’s no good reason to believe that we could get any money from that program again.”

Additionally, the Alaska Community Foundation has awarded $2.9 million in grants to public media stations through the Voices Across Alaska Fund, a rapid-response initiative created to sustain public broadcasting after the loss of critical federal funding.

The fund launched in July and rallied donors across the state to provide a lifeline for public media. As a result, KSTK was awarded $35,772.

The additional local fundraising and the two new grants just about covered the loss of federal dollars for the current fiscal year. It’s the future that is uncertain.

Even with that uncertainty, CoastAlaska Executive Director Mollie Kabler said there is good reason to hope that the station will continue to function at a normal level.

Kabler said CoastAlaska is currently looking at all possibilities for potential grant funding as they move forward.

CoastAlaska holds the federal license for KSTK and provides shared news and administrative services for the public radio stations in Wrangell, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Petersburg and Unalaska.

“We like to say that CoastAlaska is the boat that floats the radio stations,” Kabler said. “It’s been an interesting time for funding. We haven’t done anything to change the current funding model, but we are looking at every available option to help.”

The congressional action took away about $30 million from 27 public radio and TV stations in Alaska.

In a separate cut, KSTK was hit by a sweeping federal action canceling $136 million in funding for improvements to emergency warning and alert systems nationwide.

The station last year was approved for a $94,000 grant through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had Federal Emergency Management Agency money to spend to upgrade alert systems at stations in rural, tribal and underserved communities.

KSTK received half the money before the grant was shut down.