Gifts to WHYY's Campaign for Independence are approaching the $10 million mark towards a goal of $15 million. Pledges have been received from 113 individuals, 20 corporations and 14 foundations.

Four lead gifts of $1 million or more have been received:

$1 million from Mr. and Mrs. Samuel M.V. Hamilton and their family, Mr. and Mrs. Robert V. Duprey, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel P. Hamilton, and Mr. and Mrs. S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr. Their gift is for program and technological support of education projects, and is a matching gift for pledges at a level of $250,000 or more.

$1.4 million from the estate of Wray M. Hoffman, to endow the Wray M. Hoffman Program Fund. Mr. Hoffman, a retired chemical engineer from Swarthmore, PA, who died in 1996, was a longtime supporter of WHYY.

$1 million from the Longwood Foundation in Delaware, for the purchase of equipment and software for WHYY's conversion to digital technology. The Longwood Foundation is a private independent foundation headquartered in Wilmington, DE that makes charitable grants to various causes and institutions located in Delaware and southern Chester County, PA

$1 million challenge grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts for replacement of the TV12 broadcast transmitter with new digital equipment. The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments that encourage and support citizen participation in addressing critical issues and effecting social change. In 1997, with more than $4.5 billion in assets, the Trusts awarded $181 million to 320 nonprofit organizations.