As part of its 10^th year as title sponsor of Wawa Welcome America!, Wawa Hoagie Day will feature all the excitement Philadelphians have come to expect, along with a heartfelt salute to our local and national heroes, and FREE admission to the National Constitution Center. Plus this year, Wawa is building and serving the largest number of hoagies to date—weighing a total of nine tons!

Hosted by Preston Elliot and Casey Foster of 93.3 WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show, this year’s event marks the 27^th annual Wawa Hoagie Day since the inaugural Hoagie Day was held in 1992, when the hoagie was proclaimed the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia” by then-Mayor Ed Rendell. As always, Hoagie Day will focus on honoring our nation’s men and women in uniform and celebrate Wawa’s partnership with the USO, a nonprofit organization that strengthens America’s military service members by connecting them to family, home and country throughout their service to the nation. This year, Wawa will be honoring national and local heroes as Wawa builds and serves the Hoagie Day hoagie, which will weigh nine tons! The Hoagie Day hoagie will feature two of Wawacustomers’ favorite varieties—turkey and Italian.

“Hoagie Day is always a special day for all of us at Wawa. Of course, it gives us the opportunity to celebrate Wawa’s commitment to fulfilling lives every day for our community and our customers. But more importantly, it’s a time for us to celebrate and honor the everyday heroes among us, especially those men and women who protect us and the independence we celebrate during Independence week in Philadelphia,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa President & CEO. “This is our 10^th year as title sponsor for WawaWelcome America!, and this year’s Hoagie Day is set to be our biggest and best yet!”

Hoagie Day will feature the Nine-Ton Hoagie Salute to our Troops, named after the continuing focus of Hoagie Day—honoring our service members and hometown heroes, as well as Wawa’s long-standing partnership with the USO. During the salute, the nine-ton hoagie, the largest Hoagie Day hoagie to date, will be marched in by Wawa associates and military heroes and re-enactors from moments throughout history, and served to the crowd free of charge. The hoagies will be served on both the Independence Visitor’s Center and the National Constitution Center lawns. Arch Street will be temporarily closed to allow movement between the two lawns. Hoagie Day will conclude with a 30-minute performance by a brass quintet from the United States Army Field Band.

Wawa In-Store USO Campaign

Immediately following the salute, Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens will announce TheWawa Foundation’s goal to donate $825,000 through The Wawa Foundation customer donation campaign held in all Wawa stores to benefit the USO.Through July 21, Wawa customers have the opportunity to donate to The WawaFoundation at any Wawa store to benefit the USO’s programs and services in support of military personnel and their families. Speaking about the impact of USO support to military service members and their families will be Gerald Saunders, Jr., SgtMaj USMC (Ret) and current Sr. VP of Field Service Operations for the Navy League of Philadelphia. In addition, Lisa Anastasi, Chief Development and Marketing Officer for the USO, will speak about the important role Wawa customers and members of the Philadelphia community play in enabling the USO to keep families and service members connected.

[uam_ad id=”54875″]