By: Brett O’Daniell
For New Town residents, John Carney may be a familiar voice for more reasons than one. Carney has called New Town home for 13+ years, raising his family here and becoming involved in the community along the way. For years, he lent his talents as emcee of the annual New Town Duck Race, a St. Charles Christian Church fundraiser which supported children’s programs and events in the neighborhood.
Carney and his wife originally discovered New Town while looking for a different environment in which to raise their two young sons. “She really wanted to have a Mayberry kind of lifestyle for the boys growing up,” Carney said. They found it here. Today, their sons are juniors and seniors at Orchard Farm, and one works at the neighborhood Dierbergs. Carney also has two grown daughters.
But neighbors who know Carney primarily from around New Town may not realize the reach of his charitable work across the St. Louis region.
More than 25 years ago, Carney created Carney’s Kids, an all-volunteer foundation dedicated to supporting organizations that serve children. What began with just four or five charities has grown to more than 70, and the foundation recently reached an impressive milestone: more than $1 million given to charitable organizations.
The idea grew out of Carney’s career in radio. He regularly lent his recognizable voice to charitable causes, sometimes emceeing as many as 60 events a year, but began wondering what kind of lasting impact he was actually making.
“I never really knew how much of a difference with anybody I was making,” he said.
Carney decided to concentrate his efforts on a smaller number of organizations and become more personally involved. At first, his contribution was what he knew best: using his radio platform to bring attention to organizations that might otherwise struggle to be heard. Then he got closer to the people doing the work.
“The more I got involved with the organizations, the more I realized, well, some money would help them too.”
That realization led to CarneyVal, the foundation’s signature annual fundraiser. Carney draws upon relationships built throughout his broadcasting career to bring together restaurants, entertainment, sponsors, guests and an auction to raise money for the organizations Carney’s Kids serves. “Nobody is safe from my soliciting,” he joked.
CarneyVal has since been joined by cookbooks, music bingo and other fundraising efforts. Carney hopes eventually to hold something every quarter, both to raise additional money and to keep the foundation—and, more importantly, the organizations it supports—in the public eye.
Some of that work reaches directly into our area. Eagle’s Wings provides new clothing, shoes and other essentials to children in need throughout St. Charles County, including students in the Orchard Farm School District. Carney’s Kids has financially supported the organization for several years, while John and his family have also volunteered their time packing clothing and shoes for children.
That willingness to lend his voice continued when plans began coming together for a community fundraiser at Shire Lane Estate this fall. Carney was a natural first call to emcee and in true Carney fashion, he accepted.
One of Carney’s Kids’ more unusual fundraisers, Irish Road Bowling takes place in New Town as well, with four-person teams taking turns rolling iron balls along a roughly mile-and-a-half course, with the fewest rolls winning. Add kilts, Irish music and dancers, and it’s safe to say it isn’t your typical charity fundraiser.
Carney’s ability to draw attention to worthy causes comes from a broadcasting career spanning 40+ years. Radio is also a family legacy. His father, Jack Carney, became one of St. Louis’ best-known radio personalities, including a celebrated run at KMOX beginning in 1971.
John built his own lengthy St. Louis career, helping launch KTRS 30 years ago before spending 13 years at KMOX and eventually returning to KTRS 550. Today, he co-hosts the Carney and Buck Show with Julie Buck weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. In 2025, John was inducted into the St. Louis Media History Foundation’s Radio Hall of Fame, joining his father among the city’s honored broadcasters.
He has also found a new outlet through The Theme Machine, a podcast that brings together pieces of interviews from throughout his career around individual topics.
Yet when Carney talks about what makes all those years behind a microphone worthwhile, he doesn’t point to a radio station, an award or a Hall of Fame induction. He talks about people.
Every so often, someone he has never met will stop him and explain that a nephew who is blind receives services from an organization Carney’s Kids supports, or that a child attends a school where his efforts helped provide special programs. Those encounters let him see the ripple effect of something that may have begun simply by agreeing to emcee an event, make an introduction or help raise money.
“You don’t realize the difference you make,” Carney said. Carney describes himself as fortunate and he believes that good fortune comes with responsibility.
“I got a charmed life, getting to do what I love to do for a living,” he said. “You can’t just take and take and take and think that’s how it works. I think there’s a duty to leave things better than you found them.”
For John Carney, that philosophy has meant using his voice to help others for decades — and making a difference across St. Louis and right here at home.
Learn more about Carney’s Kids: https://www.carneyskids.org/about
Check out his Theme Machine podcast: https://thethememachine.net/