The capitalization issue remained: The station needed at least $200,000 to acquire the equipment necessary to broadcast. The station eventually obtained a one-year, fed¬erally funded operating and technical grant of $326,000, with the stipulation that an additional $ 117,000 be raised for hiring a staff. Hernandez-Ramos was both elated and overwhelmed—these numbers, pocket change for many companies, appeared astro¬nomically high and unachievable. Nevertheless, she faced the challenge by turning to the very people for whom the station was intended, the Hispanic community. For 22 months, Hernandez-Ramos and Morales sponsored every grassroots fund-raising cam¬paign they could think of, from break-dancing contests to social dances to bake-outs. They enlisted the community to make colorful paper flowers to sell during the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration and Posadas (a mid-December Mexican Christmas tradition). Hernandez-Ramos recalled with humor and pride the Adopt-A-Wall doll cam¬paign: Youth groups from a local recreation center made dolls that were awarded to individuals who donated $ 10 or more toward obtaining a 25,000-watt transmitter. The fund-raising efforts were not in vain. On August 29, 1985, the station went on the air at 89.3 FM as KUVO.