Preston and Steve's Camp Out For Hunger helps fill shelves at Philabundance
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Preston and Steve's Camp Out For Hunger, a massive five-day campaign to help fill the shelves at Philabundance, is underway in Philadelphia.
From Monday to Friday, there will be guests, games, stunts and carnival rides inside the Wells Fargo Center parking lots and at Xfinity Live! The event is free to attend -- people just need to bring a nonperishable donation to support Philabundance.
Donation hours run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The first Camp Out For Hunger was in 1998, and the event collected one ton of food. In 2022, people donated more than 2 million pounds of food and $1 million. That's an all-time total of over 22 million pounds of food donated to Philabundance.
On the first day alone, staff members told CBS Philadelphia they received more than 30 tons of food. That's 30 times what they were expecting for the entire week.
CBS News Philadelphia spoke with people who helped make the event happen.
"We've got carnival rides," Preston Elliot, co-host of Preston & Steve, said. "We've got free refreshments and a chance to hang out with other people who are trying to do a good thing and help out their fellow people in the Delaware Valley."
"I love Preston & Steve. This is a great cause. It's awesome to be here, always a great time," Matt Tuturice of Douglassville said. "Even despite the cold, dress a little bit warm. We're good."
Our very own Pat Gallen had some fun while volunteering on Day 2.
Philabundance is a nonprofit food bank with a mission to drive out hunger from Philadelphia neighborhoods. It services hundreds of thousands of families, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, this is another way people can give back.