‘Nutrition is very important’; ESL Ballpark food drive aims to fight food insecurity for RCSD students
Garrett Chan and Evan Bourtis News10NBC
Preparing for ESL Ballpark food drive (live report at 6 a.m.)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings is collecting food donations at ESL Ballpark starting Tuesday to fight food insecurity in the Rochester City School District
SEE MORE LIVE REPORTING FROM ESL BALLPARK HERE
The team is partnering with Foodlink and Wegmans to host the first-ever “Home Plate Food Drive” during its homestand. The donations will help to stock RCSD’s food pantries ahead of the new school year
People can donate non-perishable food during Red Wings’ ticket office hours, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The drive runs through Sunday, Aug. 30. News10NBC’s Garrett Chan was live as organizers prepared for the food drive:
In-depth on food insecurity and school meals
Over 12% of people in the 10-county region around Rochester faced food insecurity in 2024, according to the latest Map the Meal Gap report posted on Foodlink’s website. That amounts to over 155,000 people, including over 42,000 children
The City of Rochester is home to four zip codes with food-insecurity rates more than double the region’s average. The 14605 zip code had the highest at nearly 37%. Although the latest report shows a slight drop in food insecurity from 2023 to 2024, data collected by Foodlink showed a sharp rise in people seeking food assistance during the same time period.
To combat food insecurity, New York State offers free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of the family’s income, for schools participating in the Universal School Meals Program. The program launched during the 2025-2026 school year and has since served more than 396 million free school meals to students. The latest state budget sets aside $395 million for school meals, a $55 million increase from the last budget
More about RCSD’s food pantries
RCSD has 23 food pantries that students and families can access. Lieselle Taylor, RCSD’s director of community schools, says about 50 families use the pantries each day. The pantries typically see the highest demand right before breaks and after the summer
Taylor says nutrition is critical to help students with learning. That’s why the district partners with Foodlink and Wegmans to make sure that the pantries are supplied all year
“Nutrition is very important, and without healthy nutrition, you know, attendance is impacted. Students have higher performance if they have better food,” she said
Using the ballpark to help people in need
The food drive is happening during the Red Wings’ homestand against the Buffalo Bison. Red Wings general manager Dan Mason says the ballpark has been used for multiple donation drives, and it’s an honor to use the space to help people in need. On Friday, News10NBC used the ballpark for its Big Give donation event. Our team collected at least two vans full of school supplies, which the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester will give out to students ahead of the upcoming school year
“We want to make sure that the ballpark is more than just a place to play baseball,” Mason said. “We want to be a centerpiece of this community and a place where people come and interact in all kinds of different ways. And this is just another example of how we can bring our community together to help those of us in our community that could use a little extra hand.”
