When children end up at the hospital facing a health emergency, packing a pair of pajamas is the last thing on their family’s mind. Yet a simple pair of pajamas can go a long way toward helping a child feel comfortable and safe at the hospital. One radio station is helping kids at the hospital rest a little easier with a children’s pajama drive to benefit young patients at Greenville Health System’s Children’s Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina.

Magic 98.9 teamed up with a local dentist to collect pajamas for kids during the months of April, May, and June 2017. The goal was to “provide the patients real PJs instead of hospital gowns to make them feel as comfortable as possible, and still like kids,” Magic 98.9 told the Free Radio Alliance. This was the first year of the pajama drive and, so far, Magic 98.9 has collected 105 pairs of new pajamas.

The station’s efforts illustrate a vital role of local broadcasters: working with community partners to benefit local residents in a larger public service mission.

This isn’t the first time the station, owned by Entercom Upstate, has supported community service efforts. Over the last 10 years, the station’s ongoing radiothon has raised $2.6 million to benefit the local hospital. The radio station’s public service efforts have supplied a substantial boost in charitable funding to U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy’s 4th congressional district in South Carolina.

But all that could change. Bills introduced in Congress could burden radio stations with crippling fees, impacting their abilities to engage in community service efforts. In contrast, the bipartisan Local Radio Freedom Act would protect radio stations from “any new performance fees, tax, royalty or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station…”

The Local Radio Freedom Act would help ensure radio stations’ ability to continue their public service like the children’s pajama drive in Greenville, South Carolina. That’s something that will help everyone – children and grownups – rest just a little easier.