Food & Diaper Drive - Allied's Response to the Tops Tragedy
On May 14th, 2022 tragedy struck the Masten Ave neighborhood on Buffalo’s East Side. By now we’ve all heard about the Tops Tragedy that not only took the lives of 10 community members, but left residents shaken, grieving, and heart broken. This neighborhood is right in our backyard; we knew we had to do something to help.
We reached out to area organizations to offer our assistance. We were able to partner with Epic Church Buffalo, who was already working with the the Buffalo Dream Center and Every Bottom Covered to meet needs in the community. While the grief response was obvious and immediate, the issue of necessities was eclipsed. For many of these community members, this Tops grocery store was their only available option to meet their food and household item needs. The next closest grocery store is miles away, and corner markets aren’t usually cost effective for everyday items.
Allied’s office and field team members rallied together to donate non-perishable food items and feminine and baby products. We came up with 2 full trunk-loads of goods to provide. These goods were able to be immediately distributed; the food was given out at the Buffalo Dream Center’s mobile distribution table set up directly across from the Tops store, and the diapers were put in stock at the diaper bank located at the Delavan Grider Community Center.
At Allied, we firmly believe that our purpose is to make a positive impact on people’s lives. One of our Core Values speaks directly to this response – Make A Friend. Our Make A Friend value reflects our desire to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It was so inspiring to see our entire employee base show up BIG for our neighbors in the Masten Ave community.
