Hubbard’s West Palm Beach country station WIRK (103.1 FM) raised more than $11,000 for a local food bank during a three-day charity broadcast.
The “Friends Feeding Friends” broadcast wrapped up Sunday evening, with the station and its staff bringing in $11,140 in cash donations for the Palm Beach Harvest Food Bank.
The cash donations are the equivalent of over 55,000 meals for the food bank, a spokesperson said on Monday. An additional 4,600 pounds of food were collected as well, which were stored in refrigerated trucks at the broadcast site.
“They couldn’t keep the food in the trucks,” on-air host Tim Leary said on Monday. “Other food banks in need were pulling up with their vehicles, and they started distributing the food right there! And our listeners kept coming with their donations.”
The collection was particularly impressive, given the weather during the event: In an e-mail, Leary described conditions as a “horizontal downpour.”
“The most incredible moment was when listener Patty Marsh-Price, (the) owner of Morgan’s Country Kitchen, showed up and provided 2,500 meals,” Leary said.
“The love and support our listeners show to help others in need in our own community is so moving — we’ll never be able to say thank you enough for everything they’ve done!” on-air host Chelase Taylor said.
“The connection the audience has with Tim and Chelsea is remarkable,” operational manager and program director Bruce Logan said. “They respond when the urgent need was presented to them. It was a wonderful thing to witness.”
