PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – On Tuesday Pittsburgh stepped up to donate to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for our neighbors in need. Over the span of 12 hours, listeners to Audacy Pittsburgh raised over 267,000 meals.
93.7 The Fan along with sister radio stations 100.1 FM/AM 1020 KDKA, WAMO, Star 100.7 and Y-108 held the fifth annual Feed The Need radiothon which over its span has raised enough money for 3.3 million meals for Pittsburgh area residents.
On 93.7 The Fan, several in our sports community joined in to help a need that isn’t just one day, but 365.
Pitt basketball great Curtis Aiken
The now Panthers broadcaster and Pitt Board of Trustees member felt so strongly, he wanted to kick off the events at 6a on Tuesday.
“I grew up in an area that was plagued by a number of things, food insecurity was one,” Aiken told the Fan Morning Show. “I know how it feels to be in a situation where you go to sleep hungry. Your friends go to sleep hungry.”
“You have no idea what kind of impact you can have by giving. I was in a situation where other people gave and it helped my family out. That’s a big part of my motivation. It had a direct impact. It put smiles on my family’s face.”
“I know the direct impact that it’s going to have on a family.”
“I’m just happy to be a position now where I can help you guys kick this up. It makes me feel good to be a part of something like this.”
Steelers Super Bowl champion Chris Hoke
“Pittsburgh has been such a great city for me to raise my family,” Hoke said on 93.7 The Fan. “Not just the 11 years I played for the Steelers. I’ve done a lot with the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. I think it’s awesome that you highlight the Feed the Need. There are so many people that need help right now. There are a lot of people struggling. Anything we can do to help them would be a blessing for them.”
“The reality is it is happening far too often. The reality that you don’t have anything to give your kids to eat at dinner or the next morning at breakfast. The sad thing is a lot of our kids go to school with kids that don’t have breakfast in the morning.”
All-Star Pirates closer David Bednar
“I’m just so fortunate to be in the position I am,” Bednar told the PM Team. “There is an extra sense of pride of being from Pittsburgh, because it really is a special place and people are looking out for each other. That’s why this Feed The Need is so special and so awesome. Yinzers helping Yinzers and everybody helping a good cause.”
“I have so much love for this area. I was so fortunate to be in this spot, I wanted to help out in any way I can.”
Penguins Stanley Cup champion Tyler Kennedy
“You learn from the veterans on your team,” Kennedy told The Fan Morning Show. “You see the guys that are doing things, like Mario and what Sid does with his foundation. Pittsburgh means a lot. My wife is from here, it’s my new home. The people in Pittsburgh fit who I am. It’s still really nice to see how much sports means to the city and to see what the athletes do in the community.”
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi
“Giving back to the community, I think at the University of Pittsburgh there are so many people we can affect in a positive way, somehow, someway whether it’s $50, whether it’s your time or your money,” Narduzzi said on 93.7 The Fan. “It’s giving back to the community. We’ve always thought the more we can teach our young how to give back to the community and do things for other people and not think about yourself.”
“That’s the key to life. This world would be a better place if everybody would give back a little more to somebody that is in need.”
Steelers Super Bowl champion GM Kevin Colbert
Colbert said he and the Steelers were blessed to see the example the Rooney family provides to the organization and city. He said their willingness to give back is a reason their players, like Walter Payton Man of the Year, Cam Heyward are so active in the community.
“It’s a great cause you are helping,” Colbert told 93.7 The Fan. “If you ease one person’s life today and help, that’s great.”
Steelers Super Bowl champion Trai Essex
“I know this is a big deal,” Essex said on the Joe Starkey Show. “I had to come up through some rough times in Fort Wayne, Indiana and if it wasn’t for some helping hands and doing what you guys are doing, I don’t know where I would be.”
Penguins Stanley Cup champion Jay Caufield
“There are so many people in need and so many ways to help out,” Caufield told 93.7 The Fan. “We were involved in so many golf outings, so many things to be a part of. If you lived in the city in the offseason, it was automatic to help out any way you could.”
Former Pirates 2B Neil Walker
Walker said he wanted to be involved because of the giving way he learned with the Pirates and how he saw his teammates fall in love with Pittsburgh.
“This is awesome,” Walker said. “I took a lot of pride in it. I know some of my teammates that came here and got out in the community and saw how things operate, they were drawn to the family-like atmosphere and pulling in the same direction.”
The need remains every day.
Pittsburgh’s sports leaders stepped up and we ask you to consider donating to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank whenever you have the opportunity at ‘pittsburghfoodbank.org’.
Thank you!