Radio personalities: Adding a personal touch

When it comes to highlighting and actively promoting the good deeds and charitable causes within local communities, Radio Matters, and nobody does it better. Always adding to the excitement – and effectiveness – of these events is the personal involvement of station personalities, as evidenced by a couple of recent examples.

Award-winning morning show host Sarah Pepper of Hot 95-7 in Houston visited Ridgecrest Elementary School in late November and surprised teacher Rafael Carballo with a cash prize of $500, which went toward the purchase of much-needed classroom materials. The award came as a result of an ongoing partnership between the Gulf Coast Educators Federal Credit Union and the Hot 95-7 Sarah Pepper Cares Initiative.

The Hot 95-7 Sarah Pepper Cares initiative and Gulf Coast Educators Federal Credit Union plan to extend their partnership into 2016, as they continue to honor this special group of teachers in the Houston area.

Meanwhile, in Springfield, Massachusetts, radio personality Pat Kelly from Lazer 99.3 is teaming up with nine Springfield-area Rocky’s Ace Hardware establishments this holiday season to make sure the company’s 5th Annual Pet Food Drive to help homeless and abandoned animals is a continued success.

The Rocky’s stores in Springfield and Lazer 99.3 have partnered with area Humane Society locations and animal shelters to collect food, toys, pet beds and other needed supplies, with all items to be delivered just before Christmas. To help promote donations, Kelly is appearing at different Rocky’s locations throughout the first three weeks of December.

“Having a well-known area celebrity come out and greet fans and encourage more donations helps us get the message in front of more folks,” said Rocco Falcone, president/CEO of Rocky’s Ace Hardware.

Last year, the pet food drive collected a record of more than 13,400 pounds of food, along with over $5,500 worth of toys, beds, cleaning supplies and other accessories.