The Black Hour is saddened to hear that Mary Ann "Mother" Wright has passed away. She was 87 years old.
The Oakland Tribune reports, "Mary Ann Wright, better know as Mother Wright to all the needy people in Oakland and beyond who she helped feed and clothe during every holiday season for the past 30 years, died Thursday at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley after a long struggle with heart problems, one of her daughters said Friday.""People got to eat more than twice a year."
She was born in Louisiana, and later arrived at the depot on 16th Street and Wood Street in West Oakland in 1950. Mother Wright has 11 children and 33 grandchildren.
Mother Wright began feeding the needy in 1980. Prior to being recently hospitalized, she kept her Monday through Friday schedule of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. feeding the needy through her foundation based on San Pablo Avenue.
"People got to eat more than twice a year," she said told the Oakland Tribune in 2006."I'm here every morning before daylight."
Learn more about Mother Wright and her mission at the Mother Mary Ann Wright Foundation.
You can also get involved at a local food bank:
Oakland's 'Mother' Wright dies at 87
Friday, May 08, 2009
Rasheed Shabazz
