DETROIT (FOX 2) - Since the Neighborhood Grocery planted its roots on Detroit’s east side in 2023, it has become a staple in what was formerly a food desert. For the 2024 holiday season, the store is filling another critical need.
"We want to literally just do that, we want to let the neighbors know that we are here. We are a business, but we are neighbors too." said owner Raphael Wright.
Wright organized a STEM toy drive. He posted on social media that he’s collecting and distributing toys with a specific focus on science, technology, engineering and math. He plans to deliver the gifts to 20 families.
"We want to hide the medicine in the Kool-Aid a bit," said Wright. "Something that’s cool. Something that’s fun, but something that is super-duper educational. They can learn from it even if they don’t think they are."
Over the next decade, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says STEM jobs, including those in math, computer programming, and chemistry are projected to grow more than three times faster.
While more than half of high schools and after-school programs offer STEM-related programs. The Harvard Gazette says only two in ten high school graduates are prepared for STEM majors in college.
Wright hopes his toy drive will spark enthusiasm in an area where options aren’t abundant.
"We’re in the business where profits are low when it comes to money, but we can impact people long term; especially young people that are going to be the future of our city, our state, our country, our world," said Wright. "I know I can go to sleep feeling good about that."
The toy drive will go on until Dec. 20.
You can help make a donation by tapping here.
Newly-opened Neighborhood Grocery in Detroit hopes to feed city starved of local food marts
"I had a vision of rebuilding the neighborhood and that starts with food," said owner Raphael Wright. Years in the making, Detroit's newest food cooperative hopes to fill in the city's gaps in local food marts.