The Sidewalk Warriors of Troy
Every Thursday at 5:53 pm, Robin Fontanelli pulls out her phone, logs onto Facebook Live and starts filming as she walks and talks along a city block in Troy. She trains her camera on a long line of white plastic folding tables, each one covered with neatly arranged fresh produce, packaged food, ready-to-eat meals, grocery staples and pantry items. She starts a running patter of what she sees, punctuated by side comments and instructions.
“Tonight, we have an array of juices, yogurt and butter—but not as much as I anticipated—assorted pet foods donated by the Animal Support Project in Cropseyville, dry pasta—can someone run inside and bring out the sauces—and it looks like a variety of granola bars and some dried fruit snacks.” Robin pauses in front of several red coolers filled with bags of frozen chicken, green beans and thick-cut potatoes. “These are all donated by Ginsberg’s Foods—thank you John, Hannah, Leana and the entire Ginsberg’s food team!”
As she narrates the scene, Robin tucks in words of thanks and acknowledgment to the folks standing behind the tables, calling many by name and engaging easily with everyone. “I love this family—they’re so dedicated to us! Thanks for always showing up!” Further down the street, her face lights up when she sees a trio of young women behind a table piled with breads, bagels, muffins and cheerful boxes of Girl Scout cookies. “These young ladies are from the RPI women’s ice hockey team, helping out here for their third year! Are you guys still having fun? Awesome!”
Moving on to the next table: “Okay, Danny, what d’ya have tonight?” A man pulls back the lid of an insulated box and announces like a seasoned waiter: “Tonight on the hots, we have an Italian banquet! I got ziti with meatballs, chicken Parm and the fan favorite, lasagna!” His assistant, Darlene, continues as the camera pans to her containers: “Here we have meat loaf and mashed potatoes, sweet and sour beef over rice, and pasta fagiole.” Robin thanks them and quietly says, “Looks like we have about 150 in line so far, but more are coming, so we’ll keep you posted on our numbers.”
She wraps up her livestream video precisely at 6 pm, just as the first friend makes his way from the front of the line, where he has waited patiently for an hour, to the long array of tables. Smiling volunteers hand him the groceries and prepared meals that will fill his bags and sustain him for several days.
Welcome to Sidewalk Warriors Troy. Robin Fontanelli established this nonprofit in April 2021 and oversees every aspect of the program, with support from her core team of nine and a group of more than 70 loyal volunteers who manage the 30-plus folding tables of food. Every Thursday evening, 52 weeks a year, regardless of rain, snow, ice or heat, darkness or daylight. Thanksgiving night? Sidewalk Warriors will be there.
“We’re the only organization that offers a pop-up distribution in the evening and that helps people who are working or going to school. There’s no paperwork, no questions about your financial situation,” Robin Fontinelli says with pride.
“We are entirely operated by our volunteers with support from our community, organizations, businesses and individuals who cook, bake, donate or purchase requested items each week,” Robin explains. “I saw so much opportunity for growth here in Troy, and I knew we had the ability to source a tremendous amount of items that would allow us to sustain this project on a continuing basis. Over the last few years, we’ve built strong connections to the Regional Food Bank, Ginsberg’s Foods, local grocery stores and restaurants. In 2022, we served around 75 friends a week. By this fall, that number has risen to around 200 folks.”
What distinguishes Sidewalk Warriors from other nonprofits that provide food and essentials to people in need?
“We’re the only organization that offers a pop-up distribution in the evening and that helps people who are working or going to school. There’s no paperwork, no questions about your financial situation,” Robin says with pride. “If you need something, just come through the line and we’ll offer what we have, 52 weeks a year. You can come as many times as you need each month, no limit on visits. That really helps our families and individuals who need this kind of steady, unquestioning assistance. We also partner with Healthy Alliance, a platform with thousands of connections to housing, insurance and education. Our secondary mission is to help the people whom we serve to reach their goals and move their lives forward in positive ways.”
Robin describes the program’s impact. “We’ve been told by many friends, time and time again, that they wouldn’t have survived certain periods of their lives if it weren’t for Sidewalk Warriors. We’re more than just a warm meal. They tell us that it’s our kindness, our eye contact, our asking about their lives and actually listening to them. People say that we give them hope. This past week, someone said that the best part about coming here was that not one person made her feel poor.”
Sidewalk Warriors outgrew a corner parking lot where they first began distribution. In November 2022, Robin and her team approached Pastor Paul Sweet of the United Methodist Church on 35th Street; he ran the proposal by his congregation; they gave the green light; and Sidewalk Warriors found a new, accommodating and welcoming home.
“Robin and her team are serious and committed,” Pastor Paul says. “The volunteers are so conscientious throughout set-up, distribution and clean up. Tonimaria comes through at the end of the night with her broom and dustpan and sweeps up every little remnant inside and out.”
“This program brings a good sense of hope and stability to the area,” he continues. “This is something people can count on every Thursday. That’s huge for so many folks. This group provides a level of community care that we couldn’t do on our own as a congregation, so to be able to partner with this organization and share space in a way that allows us to give back has energized our congregation. They’re really proud to be a part of Sidewalk Warriors’ work.”
Orchestrating this weekly pop-up distribution demands strong organizational skills, flexibility, attention to detail and a sense of humor. A little luck doesn’t hurt either. The planning actually starts as the Thursday night distribution wraps up and team members take inventory of what items remain. Shelf-stable products are stowed in closets while cold or frozen goods go back into refrigerators and chest freezers in the church basement. The goal, of course, is to make sure all the perishables have found their way into friends’ bags. (Sidewalk Warriors refer to the people who come through the line as friends rather than customers or recipients; even a small touch like that sets the tone of mutual respect.) On Friday morning, Robin receives a list from the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York of what will be available the following week. She places her order then crosses her fingers. “We don’t always get what we order. Things may be out of stock or not the quantity we hoped for, so we may have to scramble a bit.”
Next, she logs onto SignUpGenius and Amazon Wish List and lists the supplemental items she’ll need for the following Thursday. For example, the food bank might have pasta but no sauce, cake mixes but no frosting, or great produce but no salad dressings. Those items become part of her wish list along with target quantities. “We post those lists and put the links on our website and social media so hundreds and hundreds of people have access to the information. By noon on Friday, everyone knows what our needs are for the coming week, and they have six days to pick up or order the items. Amazingly, the wish lists get fulfilled every week by Wednesday night. It’s a small miracle!”
On Thursday at 2 pm, a group of five volunteers show up at the Regional Food Bank in Latham to load their vehicles with boxes of fresh produce and other foods waiting for them on several pallets. The caravan then heads over to the church in Troy as setup gets underway. More volunteers arrive around 3:45 to lug the tables out of the storage closet and set them up along the sidewalk that wraps around the church. It takes almost two hours to organize all the tables with the items grouped by category much like a grocery store. Friends with empty bags and rolling carts start lining up further down the block at 5 pm sharp. Two volunteers hand out numbered tickets and chat with the people, connecting with them in a way that keeps the scene friendly and orderly. By 5:45, the line is nearly 140 strong and will swell to more than 200 by 7 pm.
Back inside the church, Vicki Buchanan heads up the kitchen team of 15 people expertly portioning hot meals from large aluminum pans into deli-style takeout containers. “The majority of the hot food is cooked off premise by local restaurants, and my volunteers pick it up and bring it here. We work with Pistana Brothers, Jimmy’s Pizzeria, the Ruck, Red Front, Sabor Caribeño, Iron Works and Concetta’s, to name a few. The food is not free, but we worked out a deal that benefits both the businesses and our program. We get trays and trays of food. We also have cold salads, green salads, macaroni salads, hot and cold sandwiches. The goal is to make sure that everyone goes home with two or three ready-to-eat meals.”
It’s a real art to manage the meals so that the very last person who comes through the line doesn’t go away empty-handed and hungry. Danny McMann runs the hot meal table outside and makes sure that never happens. “The number changes through the night as more people show up. We’re constantly getting updates and running numbers in our heads. If you just wing it, you’ll run out of meals pretty fast. You learn how to shuffle and adjust as the head count rises.”
Robin clearly loves this work and connects personally with everyone who comes through the line. She also possesses the ability to defuse potential situations thanks to her nonthreatening, empathetic manner. That superpower is shared by her core team members. “My second-in-command Dawn Baldwin and my other team leaders do a fantastic job managing the scene and keeping things calm. They’re out there among the friends, explaining how things work and reassuring everyone that there’s plenty of food. Our job is to figure out how to get the right products into the hands of folks who need them most. Over the years, we’ve developed great relationships with these people; we treat them with the utmost respect and dignity, and they trust us.”
By 7:30 pm, the last friend has walked through the line and leaves, pulling a rolling cart filled with enough groceries and prepared meals to see her through the weekend. The well-trained, loyal team of volunteers swiftly pack up any leftover items to be stowed inside until the next week. Tables are wiped down and stacked in a church storeroom. Hundreds of cardboard boxes have been broken down and flattened throughout the evening; another volunteer loads them into his car and brings them to the recycling center the next day. By 8 pm, the whole operation is largely put to rest, with no trace of what just transpired over the previous four hours. Robin and Dawn are the last to leave around 9 pm, pulling shut the red church door through which they entered seven hours earlier.
Three years ago, Robin Fontanelli knew nothing about social media, SignUpGenius, or Amazon Wish Lists. But she knew how to see the good in each person and offer support—no barriers, no judgment. And that’s what makes a true sidewalk warrior.
