March 8, 2018

Meet Andrea Pasquale of Sun Sounds of Arizona in Tempe

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Pasquale.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My background is in commercial radio back in Connecticut and Massachusetts. While working in Connecticut, I volunteered for their reading service and ultimately changes careers to become the Executive Director of the reading service. I made a move to Arizona 5 years later to take a job at Sun Sounds as their Manager of Programming and Volunteers. In 2016, I became the Director.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Sun Sounds have been broadcasting to people with disabilities for 40 years. We are always looking to find new listeners who would benefit from our service. A challenge is getting our name out to the general public and to acquiring additional sponsors to support the service and maintaining financial stability in a changing environment.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Our organization is built around accessibility. Sun Sounds focuses on providing the reading of printed material to people who cannot read print due to a disability 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Weekly we broadcast the reading of daily newspapers, current magazines and dozens of other programs for men, women, children and Spanish speakers. Our goal is to keep people well informed and up to date on the same material family, friends and coworkers are reading. We continue our mission of access by our commitment to people who work and volunteer with us who are blind or have other disabilities.

Our entire program relies on the thousands of volunteer hours from over 400 volunteers throughout the state. Without the volunteers we would not be able to offer the extensive array of programs and publications that we do.

We are also fortunate to have the support from Rio Salado College and the Maricopa Community College System.

What were you like growing up?
I always had a passion for radio and music from an early age and always knew my life and career would involve radio. My path lead me to work at a radio reading service serving others. Radio has and always will be, in my blood.

Pricing:

To sponsor a radio for one listener is $25
To sponsor a single program for 1 week is $600

Contact Info:

Address: 2323 W 14th St, Tempe AZ 85281
Website: www.sunsounds.org
Phone: 480-774-8300
Email: apasquale@sunsounds.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunsounds/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunSoundsofAZ

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