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Local And National Businesses Aim To Feed 800 Families In Rochester

Greg Scott

In the parking lot of Frontier Field, volunteers handed out food and supplies to hundreds of families. The event is usually held in Buffalo, but this year they set up shop in Rochester. Ashley Hampton is glad they did.

"My kids range from seven and under so they're always, 'Mom, I'm thirsty,' 'Mom, I'm hungry.' So your supplies -- they go fast."

Hampton says summer can be an especially rough time to feed the kids, without school lunch programs to take some of the pressure off.

The initiative is a collaboration between Feed the Children, PepsiCo, Tops and other local and national groups. Catholic Family Center pre-selected eight hundred families to receive 25 pound boxes of fresh produce and non perishable foods, as well as 10 pound boxes of necessities like hygienic products.

Nearly a third of Rochester families live below the poverty line.

Veronica Volk is a senior editor and producer for WXXI News.