Washington, D.C. (January 28, 2019) – As stories poured in about the hardship faced by furloughed federal workers and contractors, WHUR 96.3FM, Howard University, and FedEx jumped in to host a two-day “Rolling Food Drive,” collecting $54,000 and filling three FedEx trucks and two WHUR vans with 30,000 pounds of food.

WHUR urged its listeners to bring non-perishable food Thursday, January 24 and Friday, January 25 to designated stops across Washington, DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia, receiving an overwhelming response. “Our listeners never miss an opportunity to show their support,” said Sean Plater, WHUR interim general manager. “We are very thankful for their generosity.”

The “Rolling Food Drive” made stops at the Howard University Administration Building, John A. Wilson Building in the D.C., Wayne Curry Administration Building in Prince George’s County, and Alexandria City Hall in Virginia. Howard students, faculty, and staff endured frigid temperatures, rain and wind early Thursday morning as they packed the FedEx truck.

“Howard University is rooted in service and we wanted to make sure we were part of this effort to assist our government workers in their hour of need,” said Debbi Jarvis, senior vice president of corporate relations at Howard University.  Jarvis also presented the Capital Area Food Bank with a $2,000 check on behalf of the University. 

In Prince George’s County, a steady stream of elected leaders and workers helped to fill the FedEx truck beyond capacity with an assortment of non-perishable items. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks made a surprise presentation of $50,000 to the Capital Area Food Bank. “This furlough has impacted our residents disproportionately. Thank you to WHUR and its partners for hosting this food drive,” added Alsobrooks. 

Not to be outdone by their D.C. or Prince George’s counterparts, residents of Alexandria were in place as the “Rolling Food Drive” made its final stop Friday afternoon, even as news broke that the furlough was over. Bags of donations lined the front steps of City Hall.

“We were in total amazement by the volume of donations,” said Plater. 

All of the donations have been presented to the Capital Area Food Bank, which is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger and its companion problems.

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(Pictured first from left to right; Sean Plater, WHUR Interim General Manager, Capital Area Food Bank representative and Debbie Jarvis, vice president of corporate relations at Howard University. Pictured below from left to right; Sean Plater, WHUR Interim General Manager, FedEx representative, PG County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and WHUR reporter.)

For more information, contact the WHUR News Director Renee Nash at 202-806-3623 or rnash@whur.com