Thank you.
I have said many times that it is the people that make a community great. It does not matter if the roads are paved or potholed. It does not matter if the stores are new & shiny or old & tired. It does not matter if the skies are clear & sunny or cloudy & gray. It is the people that make a community great. It is the people that make others proud to call that community ‘home.’
I have bragged many times during my years away that Pittsburgh is a great community. Sometimes visitors to our region have trouble figuring out why they enjoyed their stay so much. Yes. We have history, architecture, technology, education, great sports franchises, innovation, art, parks, faith, fun, food, and great views. However, when pressed as to why they enjoyed their visit? Hmmm….hard to pinpoint one particular thing UNTIL I ask ’it was my people, right?’ ‘YES’ is the usual response.
That’s it. The people. Nice, polite people. Some of us are people who can be surly and complain. Some are the ‘ask-direct-questions but not-in-a-mean-kinda-way’ kinda PEOPLE. The kind of people that may look rough & tumble but provide a smile that warms your soul as they help you with nearly any task.
YOU are those people. And, you never cease to amaze me. Thank you for answering our call. The call of the staff at Entercom PITTSBURGH radio stations. The call began just after 5am on Tuesday with the KDKA Radio Morning Show. Larry Richert, Paul Rassmussen, Kathy Berggren, Producer Rob Graner and I asked for your help in restocking the shelves of Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. It has been a tough year for some of our neighbors. The five of us have been Blessed with stable jobs during the pandemic. So, we started the show with a donation and a request. The request for help in making sure that our neighbors who have had a financially tough time lately could have some food.
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The first to answer our call was a guy named ‘Dan.’ He was originally from Oakland but moved away for employment opportunities in Miami after his college days at PITT. Like many of us, he still comes home to visit family & friends. Along with his donation he gave an autographed football to use as an incentive for others to donate. Nice guy. Typical Pittsburgher.
By the way, it does not matter if you live IN the city of Pittsburgh, somewhere in the region, or beyond. We all still proudly say ‘Pittsburgh’ when asked where we are from. Why is that? Because this is HOME - and it is because of people like you!
Throughout the morning you helped us put food on the tables of our friends & neighbors who have struggled. But the generosity did not end with our show. You kept it up all day with Marty Griffin, Lynne Hayes-Freeland, and Rick Dayton. Donations of $1 or $5….$10, $100 and much more. It did not matter. It was a community effort.
Money, race, politics, preferences, opinions, pandemic, shutdowns. NONE OF THAT MATTERS when you are hungry. Hunger cuts across all of that. We have each felt it. Regardless of how well we are doing now there have been some lean times for us all.
What started with Dan at 5:08am ended with final donations by Devin, Craig, and Jeff. Our neighbors.
In all YOU helped put over 650,000 meals on the shelves. You helped make sure that our neighbors are not as hungry today. To put it in perspective: At 650,000+ meals, you provided enough food to buy lunch for every resident in the city of ‘Pittsburgh’ TWICE!!
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Your donations will be spread to those empty pantries throughout our region. So, on behalf of everyone at Entercom PITTSBURGH and beyond: ’Thank You.’
Kevin Battle is co-host of the KDKA Radio Morning Show with Larry Richert.