WASHINGTON (November 17, 2011) – Today, WHUR 96.3 FM and WHUR-WORLD 96.3 HD2, in partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB), are sponsoring Food2Feed, a 12-hour radiothon/fundraiser to feed needy families for Thanksgiving. The event began at 6 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m. at the Old Post Office Pavilion.

Every day approximately 633,000 residents in the Washington Metropolitan area are at risk of experiencing hunger.

The Food2Feed broadcast is collecting monetary donations and non-perishable food items. The food collected will be presented to the Capital Area Food Bank, the largest, public nonprofit hunger and nutrition education resource in the Washington region.

WHUR is going to use the donations to purchase $50 gift cards from Giant Food to distribute to the Capital Area Food Bank, and will then give those cards to disadvantaged families in the region.

“These are tough economic times and many families are struggling to take care of the basic necessities,” said WHUR and WHUR-WORLD General Manager Jim Watkins. “We want to help and ‘Food2Feed’ is just one of many ways we are giving back to our community.”

Today’s event is the culmination of a six-week campaign by the Howard University Radio Network stations educating listeners about the plight of the hungry in the Washington region and abroad.

Additional sponsors of Food2Feed include Howard University, SunTrust Bank Verizon, Giant Food and Dimensions Healthcare System.

“With the help of our many sponsors and generous listeners, we believe we can make this holiday season a special one for needy families. Hunger is certainly one of those social ills that we all can take an active role in eliminating,” added Watkins.

Donations to the Food2Feed radiothon can easily be made at the broadcast site or online at www.food2feed.org.

WHUR 96.3 FM - Howard University is Washington’s only stand-alone radio station and one of the few University-owned commercial radio stations in America, broadcasting since 1971 to nearly a half million listeners daily in five states and can now be heard around the globe on the web at whur.com. The first radio station in the Washington area to broadcast in HD, WHUR is the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious NAB Marconi for Best Urban Station of the Year and NAB Crystal Radio Award for Excellence in Community Service.