BUFFALO, N.Y. — Family and friends of those who lost their lives on May 14, 2022, have been thrust into a spotlight they’re still getting used to, all while still coming to terms with what took place that Saturday afternoon.
For those who knew and loved Pearl Young, keeping her legacy fed is an endeavor they’re hoping you can help make a reality.
On a sunny spring day, work on homes surrounding 266 Leroy Avenue in Buffalo, echoes throughout the neighborhood.
It’s foreshadowing work that will be underway here.
“What we are envisioning here is a food pantry,” said Allen Dewane, secretary of the Pearl Young Food Pantry Inc.
Before the 77-year-old was murdered in the Tops shooting, she was known for her decades of lending a helping hand.
“What was important to Pearl, of course, is nutrition,” Dewane said.
It’s clear and no secret the East Side is an example of food apartheid. Bishop Glenwood Young, with the Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ, where Pearl attended and volunteered, knows the need all too well.
“It’s been a problem that we’ve had for a long time,” Bishop Young said.
Bishop Young says they are in the first stages of planning, as they wait for their non-profit application to be approved.
“It’s just been so compressed and happening all at one time, and we are still recovering from that tragic event,” Young said.
The idea is to have the building be a hub, filled with office space and storage.
“In my mind, we do something where it's free for them,” Young brainstormed. “All we do is pick their groceries up, take it to them; what we have at the food pantry, we get it to them.”
Organizers say when blueprints are set, that's where residents come in.
“We can build this sort of like a Habitat for Humanity project,” Dewane envisions. “That could help cut down costs.”
Dewane says the pantry will be for the community, by the community, noting it’s what Pearl would have wanted.
“This would be something right down her alley,” Dewane smiled. “I can definitely see her smiling up in heaven right now.”