Buffalo City Mission's 'Mission Possible' food drive challenge raises more than 25,000 canned goods for region's poor & homeless

Milestone represents largest number raised in competition’s first challenge period

The Buffalo City Mission announced the results of the 2019 10-week challenge period for its “Mission Possible” youth incentive program, a communitywide initiative that brings together area schools, church youth groups and other youth programs to engage students of all ages in an exciting, educational and action-orientated food drive challenge.

It was a record-setting period for the competition, which collected 25,003 canned goods – a 4.5% increase from last year’s first challenge period – which will help to feed more than 6,250 hungry individuals.

“The ‘Mission Possible Food Challenge’ is driven by the cross-generational impact that we all can make in the lives of our community’s homeless,” said Aubrey Calhoun, associate executive director for the Buffalo City Mission. “As this challenge period comes to a close, we are amazed by the inspirational work, creativity and commitment of everyone who has dedicated time to help neighbors in need. From last October to December, we saw a record number of participating teams and canned goods raised. Our momentum continues, and we are grateful to everyone who is helping to make a meaningful difference.”

Twenty-four schools, youth groups and student organizations – not including sponsors or the community – engaged across the region, including 13 new schools and churches.

The competition challenged participating teams to develop a vision and strategy of how to track, measure and accomplish goals, and earn character milestone “badges” that recognize the importance of being a visionary, having kindness, compassion, generosity, and also being a community changer.

This year’s top “Mission: Possible” winners included:

•Champion: Christian Central Academy: 1,000 cans collected – more than 333% of its projected goal

•Second Place: West Buffalo Charter School: 1,030 cans collected – more than 206% of its projected goal

•Third Place: Centerpointe Community Church: 570 cans collected - more than 142% of its projected goal

The Buffalo City Mission thanks its key community partners, Rich Products, Citi, GEICO, Wegmans Food Markets, and Clover Management Group, with supporting sponsorship from Windsong Radiology Group and National Grid. Together, these partners have provided more than $59,500, which helps support the mission’s afterschool and summer camp programming for children who reside at the mission, and the surrounding community.

GEICO and Windsong Radiology Group also hosted dedicated can drives, which their internal staffs facilitated, to support this year’s challenge.

“Wegmans applauds the inspirational work of this year’s ‘Mission Possible’ teams,” said Michele Mehaffy, consumer affairs manager for Wegmans Food Markets. “In our first year as a sponsor of this competition, it has been a privilege to be part of a memorable experience that makes such as positive difference for our community’s poor and homeless. Our company believes in the strength of people working together to make a difference, and we are honored to be part of this initiative with the Buffalo City Mission.”

“GEICO salutes the students, groups and organizations who made this year’s competition a great success,” said Mehreen Khan, customer service supervisor for GEICO. “Through the spirit of teamwork and creativity, ‘Mission Possible’ continues to show how we can learn important life skills, achieve great things, and create meaningful change to help alleviate homelessness in our community.”

To learn more about “Mission: Possible” or how a school can register for the next year’s challenge, contact Sue Cervi at 716-854-8181, ext. 408.

About the Buffalo City Mission

The Buffalo City Mission, founded in 1917, is a nonprofit organization providing preventative, emergency and transitional housing programs to thousands of people who are homeless and impoverished every year. This includes a women and children’s shelter (Cornerstone Manor), the men’s community center, and the Dick Road thrift store to serve the Western New York community. For more information, visit buffalocitymission.org, call 716-854-8181, “Like” on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloCityMission) or follow on Twitter (https://twitter.com/CityMission).

Learn more about the event partners:

• Citi: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/
• Clover Group: www.clovergroupinc.com
• GEICO: www.geico.com.
• Rich Products Corp.: Richs.com
• Wegmans Food Markets: www.wegmans.com