VIDEO: Norris Sales Co. Provides Equipment for Popular Philly Food Relief Drive
Thu December 17, 2020 - Northeast Edition #26 CEG
One of the Philadelphia area's more high-profile charitable endeavors each year is "Preston & Steve's Camp Out for Hunger," a campaign started by a popular pair of radio personalities in 1998.
Neither Preston Elliot nor Steve Morrison could have imagined what they started more than 20 years ago would grow into what it is today. After all, the goal of the first Camp Out for Hunger (COFH) was simply to raise one ton of food for those in need; by comparison, November 2020's event collected more than 2.5 million lbs. of food.
That has made the COFH campaign the largest single site food drive in the country.
From the beginning, Preston and Steve have slept in an RV for five consecutive weeknights before waking early to do their morning drive-time show, from which they solicit contributions for COFH. Since 2005, that has been on Philly's 93.3 WMMR. The parking lot of Xfinity Live! inside the Wells Fargo Center Complex in Philadelphia now serves as the RV campsite for the radio duo during the food drive.
While broadcasting the show, they also invite folks to come by to donate food for Philabundance, a nonprofit that is the Delaware Valley's largest hunger relief organization.
This year's COFH event, held the week of Nov. 16-20, turned out to be another smash hit with a record amount of food donated to Philabundance, along with over $1.7 million in monetary contributions from individuals and companies. Subaru of America, for one, gave a record 752,632 lbs. of food.
But the popularity of COFH, as well the 93.3 WMMR radio personalities themselves, has led many Philadelphia area companies, big and small, to eagerly donate their gifts and services each year to the event.
Among them is Norris Sales Co. Inc., based in Conshohocken, Pa. A Women's Business Enterprise certified organization, Norris Sales has been providing best in class construction products and services to Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs since 1956.
Contractors, facility managers and municipalities across the Delaware Valley and South Jersey have come to trust Norris Sales to deliver the solutions they need to get the job done from manufacturers like Takeuchi, Gehl, Link-Belt, Toro, JLG, Diamond Products, Honda, Sullivan-Palatek, Multiquip, and more.
In recent years, Norris Sales has been both a sponsor and an equipment provider for the COFH food campaign. That has included supplying and delivering light towers, jersey barriers, traffic cones and message boards to help manage the drive-up collection program at Xfinity Live!
"Norris Sales is proud to support the team at WMMR and all the volunteers who made Camp Out for Hunger such a success," said Rich Hess, inside sales manager of Norris Sales Co. "They do a great job for a great cause and with all the challenges this year has brought, it's great to see so many people come together to help those in need."
The altruism of a longtime company like Norris Sales and its willingness to provide its services to the COFH effort is most appreciated by Preston Elliot, Steve Morrison, and their station, 93.3 WMMR.
"We've been fortunate to work with great people at companies like Norris Sales, those that believe in the effort to end food insecurity for so many families in our area through the work to which Philabundance is so committed," said Eric Simon, promotion director of 93.3 WMMR.
Like Norris Sales, the radio station itself, he said, has been committed to giving back to the community since it began broadcasting to the Philadelphia area more than 52 years ago.
"When the Preston & Steve Show came to WMMR in 2005, we knew they were cut from the same cloth," Simon continued. "Their Camp Out for Hunger event was already huge and has continued to grow by leaps and bounds year after year, something that would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of so many."
Philabundance acquires and distributes food to 90,000 people weekly in nine counties across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Thirty percent of the people Philabundance serves are children, while senior citizens make up another 16 percent. Others who seek food assistance include people with disabilities, single parents, veterans, students and families in need.
For more information, visit www.philabundance.org and www.norrissales.com. CEG
