Deputy Five was a life-sized robot designed to teach school children about safety and good citizenship. It was donated by Capitol Broadcasting Company to the Wake County Sheriff’s Public Service Unit in 1986.
Riding the wave of robots portrayed in movies like Star Wars’ R2D2 and C3PO, the children would identify Deputy Five as one of the good guys. The robot served as a positive role model and reinforced the purpose and image of law enforcement officers as those who serve and protect the public.
Deputy Five was equipped with a VCR and television monitor for playing public service messages.
“Doctors on Call” was a WRAL-TV health outreach program that gave viewers the opportunity to get free, confidential medical advice from physicians and specialists with the NC Medical Society. The program began in 1989 and was produced annually until 2003.
The interactive program was broadcast over the course of a single day, with half hour specials and live cut-ins during WRAL newscasts giving viewers in-depth looks at a wide range of medical topics. “Doctors on Call” was hosted each year by WRAL Health Team physician Dr. Allen Mask.
Partners Auction was a unique blend of live telethon and auction that raised money for a local non-profit organization that matched disadvantaged youth in Wake County with caring adults.
The annual Partners Auction provided a high-energy, rapid-fire broadcast that enticed viewers to bid on items ranging from boats to blenders to a rotor blade from SKY 5. You name it; it was there. If you can imagine a blend of QVC and eBay with WRAL personalities coaxing viewers to call in a bid—that was the Partners Auction!
WRAL-TV converted the Kerr Scott building at the State Fairgrounds into a large studio for each year’s auction. A phone bank was staffed with volunteers to field the many bids from viewers. Members of WRAL’s on-air staff took turns “auctioning” the items and asking for donations.
The Partners organization received the bulk of its yearly operating funds from the auction. Local businesses graciously donated goods and services to be featured on the live televised auction.
WRAL-TV first began producing the Partners Auction in the late 1970’s when Fred Barber was the station’s General Manager. The auctions continued annually under the leadership of GM John Greene until the last broadcast in 1989.
Project Tanzania was an ongoing effort to help people in the East African nation of Tanzania overcome the effects of hunger, drought and poverty.
Capitol Broadcasting Company President Jim Goodmon was deeply moved by the suffering of many Africans affected by the massive drought in the early 1980s. So in 1985 he helped organize a fact-finding trip to locate an area whose citizens wanted assistance in becoming more self-sufficient. The rural Shinyanga Region was selected and “Project Tanzania” was born.
WRAL-TV produced an hour-long documentary that introduced North Carolinians to the situation and identified ways to help Tanzanians help themselves. Citizens responded with generosity and compassion, funding both a Reforestation Program and a Scholarship Program. Educational supplies, medical supplies and essential healthcare materials were donated by North Carolina school children; the supplies were sent directly to schools and clinics in the rural villages of the region.
Project Tanzania received national recognition, including The World Hunger Award, the National Education Association Award for the Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting, a Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives and the International Understanding Award from the North Carolina Center for International Understanding.
