Brothers help raise $1K for charity by camping out inside Sprankle’s stores

Two brothers helped raise roughly $1,000 for charity by camping out inside their grocery stores in Leechburg and Kittanning last week.

Doug and Ryan Sprankle, owners of Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market stores in Leechburg and Kittanning, hosted “Camp Out For Community” events for 24 hours at both locations to raise money for the Armstrong County Community Action Agency. The events started early Friday.

“Our goal was to really raise awareness for the organization and (for) all the great organizations that participated,” Doug Sprankle said. “When we saw those kind of numbers and the response digitally as far as reach and views and everything else, we were really impressed with all that.”

The brothers spent 24 hours at their “campsites,” complete with tents and fake fires, and hosted more than 30 fireside-themed “chats” with local community leaders, business people and organizations live on Facebook.

“We cheesed it up,” Doug Sprankle said. “One of our customers who has a kayak shop brought kayaks. We had marshmallow sticks. It was the whole deal.”

He said the setup made it feel like you were sitting with your friends around an actual campfire.

“It was really enjoyable. It felt real,” Doug Sprankle said. “It made the conversations a lot more engaging because people who traditionally aren’t on camera or interviewed like that felt more free to share and to get down to the details of what they do.”

The funds were raised through a combination of snack food sales, donation containers and direct donations.

The stores sold Lay’s chips and Cheetos to raise money for the nonprofit Armstrong County Community Action Agency, which serves the needs of low-income families.

For every two Lay’s bags sold, Sprankle’s donated $1 directly to the nonprofit agency. People could donate directly to the organization via its website. ACCAA donation containers also were available at each store campsite.

Kimberly H. Pivetta, director of local programs for the Armstrong County Community Action Agency, said the nonprofit was thrilled and thankful about the amount raised.

“It’s not always about the amount, it’s about getting awareness out,” she said. “Hopefully we can forge a partnership in the future and have this again at some point.”

The brothers plan to make the camp out an annual event.

“Next year we hope to have more guests. We’re going to hopefully raise more money and more awareness,” Doug Sprankle said. “We really wanted to raise not only awareness for the organization, but awareness of our communities. A lot of people focused on positive things that are happening in the community from all aspects. We just wanted to really showcase the places that we live.”