by Matt Konkle
Quadratec Channel Editor-in-Chief
The boxes first appeared in March, when the Easter Bunny was just about ready to go, a warm summer loomed on the distant horizon, and late November, well, late November was merely a date on some wall calendar.
They were your average cardboard boxes, nothing special, but as people began arriving on a windy and gray March Sunday morning to Quadratec’s first Jeeps & Java event of 2016, something special did start happening to those boxes.
People began filling them with canned food. And filling. And filling. All for a good cause, and to help out in some friendly competition with local Porsche Clubs.
See, Quadratec’s monthly Jeeps & Java event has always been about more than just assembling some of the best area Jeep enthusiasts for a Sunday morning of camaraderie. It has also helped raise money and awareness for some great causes over the years – including The Michael Strange Foundation, Main Line Animal Rescue, and Shriners Hospitals for Children - Philadelphia.
This year, Quadratec also accepted canned food donations at each Jeeps & Java – as well as the company’s annual October Tent Sale – all in anticipation of the upcoming ‘Preston & Steve Camp Out For Hunger’ event in Philadelphia later this month.
“We really wanted to make it a point this year to ask everyone who came out to our Jeeps & Java events to make a donation to this great cause,” said Quadratec’s Tony Innaurato. “Thanks to your contributions, the Jeep community has raised pallet loads of canned goods to help fight hunger for so many in need. Plus, it all adds up as we are again competing with several area Porsche clubs to see who can donate the most food.”
Quadratec’s Jeeps & Java is held the second Sunday of every month, with the exception of January, February and October. The company’s next event is Sunday, November 13th from 9-11:30 AM at its West Chester, PA location. For more information, click: http://bit.ly/2g04ozm
Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison, hosts of the region's top-rated Morning-drive radio show on WMMR, began their Camp Out For Hunger food drive 18 years ago and, since then, have seen the event morph into the country’s largest single location food drive. Last year, they received donations totaling over 1.1 million pounds of food and $158,000. All donations are turned over to Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization.
“So eighteen years ago we started this little food drive called The Preston and Steve Camp Out For Hunger,” Elliot said in an interview with Greater Media. “Our original goal was to live in a parking lot and try to raise one ton of food – two thousand pounds. Well it’s gotten a tiny bit bigger than that now.”
“Last (year) we raised - over the course of five days - 1,161,293 pounds of food! Never in all the years of doing this did we ever think that we would break the million pound mark! We also accepted $158,995 in cash donations. It’s the biggest food drive of its kind in the entire nation and we couldn’t have done it without the generosity of the people of the Delaware Valley. Thanks to all of those who came out to contribute and volunteer. You continue to be amazing, giving people.”
All the collected canned goods from Jeeps & Java, plus employee donations and a matching donation from Quadratec, will be driven down to Philadelphia’s Xfinity Live complex to be part of a massive 200-plus Jeep Caravan on Wednesday, November 30, featuring Jeeps from many great area clubs. Also, Innaurato said, it's not too late to join this event. Anyone interested in participating can gather in the 'S' lot on Pattison Avenue across from Xfinity Live at 6 PM, while the caravan is expected to start around 7:30 PM.
Last year, the entire 129-Jeep convoy donated 12,000 pounds of food, while the Porsche club – with its 180-car caravan and later donation time – racked up 17,000 pounds.
”Together we raised over 14 tons of food,” said WMMR afternoon personality Paul Jaxon – whose Jaxon Jeep Club is also one of those involved. “No losers. Just awesome people helping out the less fortunate.”
Following the drop off, all participants are invited back to the start lot for a raffle including several donated products from Quadratec. Proceeds from the raffle will also benefit Philabundance.
Philabundance serves more than 90,000 people per week — 30% of whom are children and 15% are seniors — in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania as well as Western Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties in New Jersey.
It distributes food directly to people in need through its own programs and a network of approximately 350 agencies, including food cupboards, pantries and shelters.
The Preston and Steve Camp Out For Hunger food drive is scheduled November 28-December 2 at the Xfinity Live! Complex in South Philadelphia.
