After donated groceries were thrown away, Wilkinsburg apartment residents receive promised food

The tenants of Wood Towers in Wilkinsburg finally received the groceries that they were promised two months ago.

In May, bags of donated food from The Promise Center in Homewood filled the trash bins outside of the Wilkinsburg apartment complex. The building's property manager admitted to locking the food in the community room on May 22, claiming it was because someone was stealing. But after three days, the food went bad. 

On Tuesday, residents lined up to pick up fresh groceries. 

"Kind of ridiculous," resident Allana Warren said. "We shouldn't have had to have waited to get the food. It should have been distributed that day. But they came and gave the food, so it feels better."

Since May, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, who represents the area, has been working on replacing the food. The low-income apartment building mainly houses seniors.

"Unfortunately, fixed incomes are not able to keep pace with the rising cost of food," Salisbury said. "Anybody who's been to a grocery store over the last year knows that things in many cases are unaffordable. So, Highmark Wholecare was able to replace all the produce that was donated. Fortunately, the management of the building made a contribution, and Giant Eagle helped us out a little bit."

On Tuesday, the Promise Center distributed 2,300 pounds of fruits and vegetables from Highmark and 500 pounds of poultry from Giant Eagle. Nathaniel Goodson, executive director of the center, said he was shocked to learn what happened with the original delivery but that it only strengthened his commitment to getting fresh food to the people who need it.

"I couldn't believe it, but I knew that we made a promise to them at the beginning of the day they were going to get some food, so we were going to make it happen," Goodson said. "Food is just too high right now, and it's good food, healthy food."