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Wright Camps on Tops Roof to Fill Food Pantry Truck |
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by Dan Veaner
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Friday, 06 November 2009 |
 If you thought you saw someone living on the roof of the Lansing Tops this week you weren't hallucinating. Z95.5 Program Manager Justin Wright camped up there all week to get people to donate to the Tompkins County Red Cross 's food drive. Wright is actually camping on the roof, night and day to bring attention to a cause that is close to his heart.
"A couple of years ago around Christmas I was living in Roanoake, Virginia," he recalls. "The house I was living in caught on fire and I lost everything. Thanks to the people in the community and the Red Cross I was able to recover from that. I had a place to stay and food to eat. That is all the more reason I want to be able to give back. We have this medium to reach thousands of thousands of people. Why not use it to make a difference?"
Justin Wright on his rooftop perch
According to Red Cross Director of Homeless Services John Ward the drive makes a huge difference. He says that the truckload of donated food will last 8-10 weeks and save the Red Cross between $2,500 and $3,500 in expenses. Last year Wright camped out in the Wegmans parking lot and raised 6,000 pounds of food for the local food pantry and homeless shelter programs. By Wednesday of this week Red Cross officials were estimating that they already exceeded last year's donations.
"Last year they approached us," Ward says. "They were a new station and they were looking for some ways to give back to the community and show the community they were an asset and a partner. This year Justin and (Z95.5 General Manager) Frank Lischack were right on the ball and said 'We're going to do it again.' Today is Wednesday and I think that truck looks pretty full, so he could come down any time he'd like to. But I think he's going to try to stick it out until the end of the week."
Ward is also one of the co-coordinators of the Tompkins County Food Distribution Network, a network of 16 food pantries that serve portions of the county, including the Lansing Food Pantry, and one soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes. But the Red Cross food pantry serves residents across the whole county.
"We are seeing a lot of people we've never seen before," he says. "Food pantries have people who come once a month and you get to know them. Now we're seeing people we've never seen before. It's their first time visiting a food pantry. Most are employed, and they are trying to stretch their food dollar. The food pantry is a band aid. It is not a solution to people's problems, but it helps them in an emergency situation, maybe to the next paycheck, or maybe until the next time they receive their food stamp allotment."
The Red Cross homeless shelter also benefits from the drive. Ward says it has 31 beds, and has been largely full over the last three months, serving between 25 and 35 people at a time including families, single moms with kids, individuals, people with disabilities and mental health issues. He says the food pantry serves an average of 150 households per month, which amounts to between 250 and 300 people.
Red Cross Development Director Jackie Corbin with Justin
Wright and Red Cross Director of Homeless Services John Ward
"The last thing I'd want to tell my kids would be 'Mommy and Daddy can't feed you,'" Wright says. "How do you tell your kids that? Kids are innocent and sweet and they have no control over that. How do you explain to your kid that they're not going to be able to eat because you don't have a job? They don't care. They just don't have any food."
Tops has set up a display of pre-packaged bags food to make it as easy as possible to donate. You just put a bag into your shopping cart and pay for it when you check out, then drop it into the back of the truck when you go out to the parking lot. Wright stresses that the need is year 'round and says people can donate directly to the Red Cross any time during the year.
"We're very proud of Justin for staying out there for a good cause that he really believes in, and something he has experienced himself," Lischack says. "He knows better than any of us what it's like, so who better to be doing it?"
Both Lischack and Wright credit the community for responding so overwhelmingly to the need.
"I'm just a guy on a roof," Wirght says. "It's the people of Lansing and Ithaca that are coming together and making this happen. If it wasn't for them and the love and support they are showing us, that truck wouldn't be full."
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