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Hungerthon 2021: Tom Chapin carries on brother’s legacy fighting hunger, poverty 40 years after his death
By Neil A. Carousso, Wayne Cabot and Tom Kaminski
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Hunger and poverty is an issue made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, but WhyHunger believes it is solvable.
“Food is a right, not a privilege,” said musician Tom Chapin of the non-profit organization’s motto.
WhyHunger helped 1,036,065 people find access to nutritious food and essential services last year through their hotline and online resources. Through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, it has mobilized $845,223 in emergency funding to 42 partner organizations and social movements across 8 countries.
Those rapid responses include distributing food, medications and PPE to vulnerable people, supporting food banks and pantries to meet rising demand during the pandemic, and developing the capacity of farmers to grow sustainable food while also developing a local distribution infrastructure.
“Almost 12 million children don’t know what they’re going to eat this week,” said Chapin. “Those numbers are drastic. The good news is, WhyHunger has been, since 1975, putting hungry people in touch with food, helping them towards self-reliance, and really, working toward food justice.”
As a board member, Tom Chapin has taken the mantle from his late brother Harry Chapin who founded WhyHunger in 1975 with radio DJ Bill Ayers. Harry tragically died in a car crash on July 16, 1981 on his way to a free benefit concert at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, Long Island.
“As Harry said when he was really a major star, ‘You know, it’s really cool I’m doing this, but being a rock star is not an end in itself,’” Tom Chapin recalled. “He always felt that he had a bully pulpit, which was pretty remarkable. I mean, you think about we talk about this guy now 40 years later and not even about the songs so much but about this idea that he had that so many other people have picked up and carried on. It’s kind of humbling and also just kind of magical.”
Annually through its Hungerthon auction and various partnerships, including with WCBS Newsradio 880 and the station’s parent company Audacy, WhyHunger brings together radio personalities and celebrities to raise money to put an end to hunger in America. Listeners can bid on exclusive in-person and virtual experiences, including a private concert from Chapin and his band.
“The real heroes here are not me,” he said, continuing, “It’s the people who have kept it going and the day-to-day people at WhyHunger and all of our partners – those are the real heroes here – and the people we’re talking to who open up their pocketbooks, and say, ‘Yeah, I want to be part of this. I want to help.’”
See how you can join the fight against hunger and poverty and get a sneak peek of Harry Chapin’s private concert auction item on the video above.
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Small Business Comeback Tour: Child’s Play Challenge Courses
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ (WCBS 880) – There’s no obstacle this couple can’t crush.
Lauren and Matt Borawski from Scotch Plains, Union County are the founders of Child’s Play Challenge Courses, which designs portable obstacle courses for people ages 2 and up. They’ve become the toast of kids’ birthday parties, but they also run programs for adults and special needs individuals of all physical abilities.
“We didn’t want to compete with all of the other ninja gyms,” Lauren told Joe Connolly. “We come to you.”
On the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G, the couple explained how they pivoted to meet demand for COVID-safe outdoor experiences. One of those pivots included setting up obstacle courses at summer camps that kept kids in a so-called bubble to prevent the virus from spreading among unvaccinated age-groups.
“We go right to the schools, we go right to the camps,” said Lauren who has 30 years of experience in event planning and as a TV operations manager.
Her husband, Matt, designs the courses, and as a certified personal trainer, he leads their exercise programs.
Child’s Play Challenge Courses is now operating in seven states and the Borawskis are looking to franchise the business as they finish their strongest year in terms of revenue despite the pandemic.
“We’ve had over 100,000 people crushing our courses and that’s what’s so great and so unique about us is that we go to wherever this event, party, school, function is.”
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880 Weekly Rewind: Navigating the Holiday Pandemic Stress as COVID Cases Rise
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Increasing COVID-19 infections are adding anxiety ahead of Thanksgiving.
Dr. Daniel L. Shapiro teaches conflict resolution at Harvard College and has extensive experience consulting Fortune 500 leaders, hostage negotiators and heads of state. Shapiro also works with families in crisis. On The 880 Weekly Rewind, he shares how people can navigate personal anxieties and different feelings about COVID-19 during the holidays.
Rewind host Lynda Lopez also looks at how booster shots may be able to squash the fall wave.
Listen to The 880 Weekly Rewind Podcast for a deep dive into the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso for WCBS-AM New York.
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New Businesses Flock to Flatiron District as BID Expands in January
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The Flatiron District is seeing growing interest from a variety of new companies looking to set up shop in New York.
In total, 70 businesses have expressed interest or signed new leases since July 2020, according to the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership.
“We’ve seen a continuing trend of tech, media/info organizations,” said Executive Director James Mettham. “We’ve also seen the start of a life science hub on Park Avenue South, which was invested in before the pandemic. It’s all towards this diversifying of the economy and strengthening our neighborhoods.”
Mettham told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank, that the business improvement district (BID) is stronger 20 months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York because it is no longer relying on one type of tenant or industry for the viability of its neighborhoods.
“We’re not a one industry town anymore,” he said.
Office occupancies in the Flatiron District are about 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The Delta wave pumped the breaks on the return to the office this fall. Now, the target is early next year for many companies.
“You have a lot of people, employees, that have found a way to make the most of working from their homes and are comfortable in doing that. At the same time, I think everyone sees the value in coming back together in a creative environment that’s not just confined to the walls that you’re in, but just, the air that you breathe in a neighborhood like Flatiron and NoMad where there’s just an abundance of like-minded organizations/companies that are the future of the kind of the digital economy,” said Mettham.
The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership is nearly doubling its footprint in January after the New York City Council approved their expansion proposal to cover 20th Street, the Sixth Avenue gateway to the district, and more of NoMad.
“The core quality of life work that we bring to the table, and actually, to set the table for more vibrancy through commercial and business growth will be brought to the streets inside of NoMad,” said Mettham, continuing, “That means there are supplemental cleaning services, that means there are public safety officers on the beat working with our city agencies, homeless outreach as well, and then, marketing, concerted marketing and district promotions for the business community that resides in this greater footprint.”
The New York business leader noted the Flatiron District’s Instagram page that promotes local businesses has grown above 27,000 followers.
BIDs play an important role in supporting local businesses, and in Mettham’s words, “uplifting” families and communities. They can be a great resource for business owners when considering renting, expanding or finding new clients in specific neighborhoods. The Flatiron BID executive director told WCBS 880 he takes a hyperlocal approach to economic development.
“With jobs, with business entrepreneurship, innovation, mixed in with important public realm improvements like our NoMad Piazza and our slow streets on 23rd and 21st and Broadway – all of that comes together and creates a special mix where commerce can grow and people – as we’ve seen in New York City over the past two decades – want to live, work, and play, and visit,” Mettham said.
Watch the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above for more on how the Flatiron District is rebuilding for the post-pandemic future.
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Small Business Comeback Tour: Ulrich, Inc.
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (WCBS 880) – When Joe Connolly spoke with Ulrich, Inc. president Robert Elfers for this week’s WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G, the phones in the Bergen County showroom were ringing off the hook.
Elfers said it’s been that way since June 2020 when they reopened following a three-month pandemic shutdown.
“You drive around the neighborhoods in Ridgewood and Bergen County, it’s like a traffic jam with the contractors on the road,” he said. “People are doing everything.”
Ulrich specializes in kitchens and bathrooms, but they’ve accumulated a number of home improvement projects during the pandemic. The timeline for renovations has been “stretched out,” said Elfers, who noted the supply chain issues that have hampered his industry.
He said there’s a good spirit across Bergen County as people look forward to a post-pandemic economy.
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