HASTINGS, Neb. – After more than two days spent camping on a rooftop, solid ground never felt so good.

Since Tuesday morning until Thursday afternoon, KHAS Radio’s Brandon J McDermott sacrificed his own comfort to help fight food insecurity in central Nebraska.

"I know what it's like to not know where my home is, not know where my roots are, and also not know where dinner is going to come from," said McDermott. "I may be counting on it at school, but on Saturday or Sunday, where am I going to get a meal from? Those things hit hard. I know what it's like to open the pantry as a kid and see nothing in there, and to see mom and dad argue over money. That kind of stuff is tough."

The goal? Fill two moving trucks full of food and basic necessity items.

McDermott, for the second straight year, couldn’t come down from the Burlington Center roof until those two trucks filled up.

Prominent local officials, school leaders, and even Gov. Jim Pillen either came up to the roof to support the cause, or drop off food.

"It's important for us Nebraskans. We all love this place so much, we want to say everything is perfect, but the reality is we do have poverty in every one of our communities," said Pillen. "It's important that we all step up, help our neighbors because we have neighbors in need."

54 hours later, after enduring rain on day one, and warmer temperatures the rest of the way, the station’s goal was met, and McDermott was released from his captivity on the rooftop.

One moving truck went to the Crossroads Mission Avenue, and the other to the Hastings Food Pantry, where officials from both organizations told us their food supplies were emptier than normal this summer, until now.

"We've seen a real split between the amount of folks that are in need of food, and the benefits available for them, and we're in that gap to try and fill that space. This will certainly help us do that." said Don Gronemeyer, Hastings Food Pantry. "We really appreciate your help and all the help from the folks over at your station because without you we never could've made that happen."

But of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without the Hastings community and the volunteers that helped move food during these three days.

No one had to come out of their way to support this food drive, but the masses showed up anyway, gathering nearly twice the amount of food from last year’s Heroes for Hunger drive. 

"I cannot thank you enough for the generosity you showed small businesses, large businesses, public schools, private schools, everybody came together to make a difference to get me down from the roof," said McDermott. "Whether you brought in one box of food or an entire pallet, you made a difference in Hastings."

Even though McDermott is enjoying his time back on solid earth, he says the station is already planning to bring the food drive back for a third year in 2026.