Elves & More of Northeast Ohio and Con-way Freight Deliver Christmas Surprise

Annual Event Marks 9th Year Surprising Underprivileged Kids in Canton with over 1,000 New Bicycles

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Dec 21, 2014, 11:00 ET

CANTON, Ohio, Dec. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1,000 underprivileged children in Canton woke up today with a Christmas surprise, thanks to non-profit organization, Elves & More of Northeast Ohio, and several local businesses including trucking company, Con-way Freight.

A total of 1,100 bikes plus an assortment of toddler gifts were distributed this year — the ninth consecutive year that Elves & More and Con-way Freight have teamed up to play Santa Claus for local children. Santa's "sleigh" — in the form of 16 Con-way tractor trailers — along with nearly 100 volunteers delivered the gifts to two locations in Canton this year. In addition to the new bikes, tricycles will be provided for younger children and gift boxes for infants.

"Who can help but be moved by the sight of a child receiving his or her first bike?" said Tom Clark, senior vice president of operations for Con-way Freight. "My family and I participate in this event each year and seeing those smiling faces, knowing we helped in some small way to bring joy during this festive time of year is a wonderful feeling. As a company, participating in the communities where we live and work is a core part of our culture and we're proud to once again pitch in and help this outstanding organization."

Elves & More has come a long way from its first surprise delivery in 2006, when it assembled and gave away 400 bikes, noted the organization's founder, Tim House. "This simply never gets old," said House. "No matter how many years go by or how many bikes we give away, we're rewarded every year by the delighted looks on the faces of these kids."

Con-way Freight donates its trucking services to ship the bikes across country and deliver them in time for Christmas. Local Con-way Freight employees also volunteer for the annual "bike build" event the weekend before, when more than 400 volunteers come together and spend a day assembling the bikes. Con-way Freight is one of the many donors and volunteer organizations supporting Elves & More in making Christmas a bit more joyous for Northeast Ohio children in need.

Follow Con-way Freight on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Conway_Freight

Con-way equipment images are available at www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom

Elves and More is a 501(c)-3 headquartered in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. For more information about Elves and More or to view photos and videos, visit http://www.elvesandmoreneo.org/.

About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry's leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of 425 operating locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTL™ delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container load (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed^® service; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP-, ACE- and CSA-certified.

Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $5.5 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.

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SOURCE Con-way Freight