Mary Ann Wright (July 11, 1921 – May 7, 2009), known as Mother Wright, was a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who lived and worked in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and fed East Bay residents for almost 3 decades. She fed more than 450 people a day on a budget of $137,000 a year. She also distributed huge quantities of food, clothing and toys each holiday season from her West Oakland warehouse. Wright held a very active schedule into her 80s, usually arriving at the foundation at 6 a.m. and would tirelessly continue to move boxes herself.

Biography

She was born into an

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family of

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and raised in the small town of

Darlington, Louisiana Darlington, also known as Pipkins Mills, is an unincorporated community in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, United States. The community is located east of Coleman Town and northwest of Greensburg. Historic log structures In 1981 the National ...

. She grew up poor, lost her mother when she was only 5 years old, and was raised by her father. She was married at 14 years old and had her first child at 15. In 1950 she fled an abusive husband and took her nine children and moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. As a single mother, she worked long hours picking cotton, walnuts and strawberries in Hayward, Walnut Creek, and around the state. For another stretch of time she worked two jobs to make ends meet as a domestic helper during the daytime shift and in a San Leandro cannery during nights. She later remarried and had three more children, one of which was adopted. In 1980 she says she was awakened by God in her sleep when she received a

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in a

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who told her to feed the hungry. "The Lord woke me up in the middle of the night and told me what he wanted me to do, which was feed the hungry," she said. She started out feeding the poor and homeless by serving one meal a week, on Saturdays, downtown at Jefferson Park in Oakland, supported by her $236

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check. With help from others, among them grocers, produce merchants, the leaders of local churches and community groups, and city officials, this effort grew to become the Mother Mary Ann Wright Foundation. Through the Mary Ann Wright Foundation, Wright, family members and numerous volunteers regularly collected food and clothing from various local businesses (i.e. Safeway) and other donors to distribute to the needy. The foundation's warehouse on San Pablo Avenue at 32nd Street has been her main distribution center. At the holidays, long lines always formed outside with Wright often on the sidewalk, bullhorn in hand, leading a prayer as people picked up bags of boxed and canned food, toys and Christmas trees. As well as helping people in Oakland, her foundation has provided help to people in

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and

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, and founded a school in

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. Mother Wright, accepted no pay and was assisted primarily by her daughters. In 2005, Wright was inducted into the

Hall of Fame for Caring Americans In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the grea ...

, by the Caring Institute.Oakland humanitarian earns honor
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', December 16, 2005. She met Bill Cosby and Aretha Franklin, and was invited to more than one presidential inauguration. Wright, who had been struggling with heart trouble for several years, died at age 87 in Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley. She was survived by 10 children, 33 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren, and preceded in death by two sons.

References

External links

Mother Mary Ann Wright Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Mother American anti-poverty advocates Roman Catholic activists African-American Catholics African-American activists 1921 births 2009 deaths Activists from Oakland, California Catholics from California Activists from New Orleans People from St. Helena Parish, Louisiana Catholics from Louisiana 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women