On May 28th Cayuga Radio Group will once again be in the Ithaca Festival Parade with their canned food drive 'Cans Along Cayuga'. Last year 1,000 pounds of food was collected and donated to the United Way of Tompkins County for various food pantries in the area.

This year a big thanks goes out to Caroline, Enfield, South Hill, Trumansburg and Fall Creek Elementary Schools for their 'Kids Helping Kids' can collection campaign prior to the parade.

"'Cans Along Cayuga' was born out of our discussions with the United Way of Tompkins County," said Vice President/General Manager Chet Osadchey, "They continue to see increased hunger issues within our community, and our team at Cayuga Radio came up with the idea to get as many people to participate in a fun event that would help address this important problem."

"The unfortunate reality is that each day too many in our community are unable to put safe and healthy food on the table.  "Cans Along Cayuga provides Ithaca Festival Parade viewers and participants with an easy and valuable way to make a difference in the lives of local residents.  United Way is proud to be a part of the parade and partner with Cayuga Radio Group, the Kids Helping Kids Campaign, and the dedicated volunteers and staff in the food pantry." James Brown, United Way of Tompkins County President and CEO

"The idea is simple," said Connie Fairfax-Ozmun, Marketing Director at CRG, "All nine Cayuga Radio Group stations (WHCU AM/FM, Q Country, Lite Rock 97.3, Classic Rock I-100, Progressive Talk, The Vine, The Buzzer, Z95.5 and Rewind 107.7) have been running promotional announcements encouraging people to bring canned goods with them to the Ithaca Festival parade.  We are encouraging them to line Cayuga Street with these cans and we will move along the parade route collecting the cans and stacking them on a trailer."

All the food will then be given to the United Way of Tompkins County that will directly designate the recipient organizations.

"It's a necessary cause," said Osadchey," And I cannot think of a more fitting setting to visually showcase the power of individuals making a collective difference than at our festival parade."
 
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