Nevada City's eclectic community radio station KVMR-FM made its on-air winter membership drive goal this week, thanks to a last minute listener fundraising surge Monday morning.

A morning record 66 listeners contributed $7,575 during the station's Monday Morning Show, which Program Director/host Steve Baker and co-host Jerianne Van Dijk called "the Second Wave", using surf music and a Dr. Bronner's soap giveaway so "we can clean away our goal."

"Things were a little grim when we were more than $7,000 short of our ($94,000) goal for the week Sunday night," says Baker. "But our station resonates with our listeners, and they passionately came through -- unbelievably bigtime -- on Monday."

Overall, the drive has netted $94,818, as of Tuesday afternoon, with nearly 800 individual pledges -- 143 of them from new members.

"I'm just elated to welcome these first time contributors," said General Manager David Levin. "They're the lifeblood of our continued growth and upgraded broadcast services."

The top fundraising show of the drive -- Marc Cuniberti's "Money Matters" financial advice program --also set an all-time record for an individual show, with an astounding $20,207 raised from 73 donors in its two-hour Thursday noon slot. His total was nearly $5000 more than his previous record-setter in November.

"Marc has definitely touched a nerve among our listeners in these challenging economic times," Levin added. "Congratulations to Marc and his listeners for their vital contributions to our own economic health."

Baker said the Monday soap giveaway idea came from an interview he'd done with Ralph Bronner, son of the soap company's late founder. Bronner had donated three cases of soap to the station in thanks for the hospitality he received in Nevada City in January during the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.

"Maybe you don't know what you have there," Bronner told KVMR listeners. "It's one of the best, friendliest places I've ever visited."

Bronner is featured in "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox," an acclaimed documentary about his father and the ecology-minded soap company