CBS Philly Stations Raise More Than $225,000 For Oklahoma Disaster Victims
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The CBS Local Media stations in Philadelphia – CBS 3, The CW Philly, KYW Newsradio 1060, 98.1 WOGL, SportsRadio 94WIP, CBS Sports Radio 610, Talk Radio 1210 WPHT and CBSPhilly.com raised more than $225,000 Thursday for the American Red Cross relief effort in the wake of the horrific and deadly tornado in Moore, Oklahoma as part of their "Operation Brotherly Love: Helping Moore" event.
Volunteers and on-air personalities from the stations, the American Red Cross and Brotherly Love campaign partner Wawa staffed a phone bank from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. today soliciting donations at the top of every hour and in news segments on CBS 3 and The CW Philly to take pledges for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Eyewitness News Anchors Chris May, Pat Ciarrocchi, Ukee Washington, Erika von Tiehl and Natasha Brown from CBS 3 and The CW Philly along with CBS RADIO personalities Ross Brittain and Valerie Knight of 98.1 WOGL's Breakfast Club, Dom Giordano from Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Al Morganti of SportsRadio 94WIP and KYW Newsradio 1060's Cherri Gregg and Michelle Durham led the effort which brought in $228,143 in donations. Former Philadelphia Flyers player and current player development coach Ian Laperriere was also on-site to make an appeal on behalf of the Red Cross.
"Once again we are overwhelmed at the generosity of our viewers who always come through for their neighbors whether it's locally, across the country or around the world," says CBS 3/The CW Philly President and General Manager Jon Hitchcock.
"It was heartwarming, but not surprising to see our listeners respond," adds Marc Rayfield, Senior Vice President and Market Manager for CBS RADIO. Hopefully, what we've done here can help ease the pain of those who lost so much in this disaster."
"We are so grateful for the generosity of CBS Philly, our corporate partners and the wonderful viewers," says Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, CEO of the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross. "Because of their generosity, we can keep our promise to always be there for those in need."
CBS 3 and its sister stations created Operation Brotherly Love in 2001 as a way to mobilize the Delaware Valley's response to the 9/11 disaster. Under that same banner, the stations later raised $300,000 for Tsunami victims and more than a $1 million for Katrina victims in 2005 and just shy of $1 million for Haitian Earthquake victims in 2010. Additionally, last November, Operation Brotherly Love raised $628,107 for Hurricane Sandy and the relief efforts surrounding that disaster.
CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly (WPSG-TV) are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation. KYW Newsradio 1060, 98.1 WOGL, SportsRadio 94WIP, CBS Sports Radio 610 and Talk Radio 1210 WPHT are CBS RADIO stations. The stations can be heard live on-air, online at www.cbsphilly.com and via the Radio.com App for a variety of mobile devices.
