Mother. That’s what Pearl Young was, not just to her three children but to a community, a community where she fed people in need for over 30 years.
“My mom was just always volunteering at the church pantry, The Good Samaritan Pantry and fed the community and brought things to the community on a weekly basis," said Damon Young.
Young, the youngest of Pearl’s three children who are now adults, said the way his mother cared for children in the neighborhood exemplified her nurturing nature.
“I remember seeing one of the younger kids whose grandmother is one of my friend’s grandmother so this is this young boy’s great grandmother and I had come to church for Mother’s Day and got up and spoke about my mom and then I saw the young boy the next day. He was like, ‘I didn’t know that Mama Pearl was your mom,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah man, that’s my mom.' ... 'She gives me honey buns all the time,’” he said.
Pearl taught Sunday school at the Good Samaritan Church of God In Christ and also worked in the Buffalo Public School system.
She often interacted with children that had behavioral issues, something friend and fellow parishioner Madge Whiskey was concerned about.
“She said, ‘Give me the challenging kids,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t think you should go back at your age.' She says, ‘I'm going back.’
"I remember she fell down the stairs and then after about a week or so she went back to school I’m like, ‘What are you doing? You should not go back to school,' and she said, ‘Those kids need me.’"
Whiskey said it was Pearl’s love for the children she taught and watched over that they decided to have the Pearl Young Food Pantry and Soup Giveaway on April 29 to both celebrate the life of the woman who meant the world to so many and continue to do the work she did in the community for years.
“We don’t want her name to be forgotten. We just don’t want her to be called one of the Jefferson 10. She is more than a Jefferson 10, she is Pearl Young," Whiskey said.
Young said his mother was unashamedly concerned with the community, the children she taught, and spreading the word of God.
He wants his mother to be remembered as the caring woman that loved her faith family and her community.
“She loved Jesus, she loved giving, she loved being of assistance to others and participating in God’s work and she loved her family."
The Pearl Young Food Pantry and Soup Giveaway will be held at 266 Leroy Ave from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the city of Buffalo, a vacant lot owned by the church that the family hopes will become a brick-and-mortar place for those who are in need.
The pantry is accepting donations and can contact Madge Whiskey at mawrom828@msn.com.