Binghamton City Councilwoman Lea Webb was recently recognized in Oprah Magazine for receiving a White House Leadership Project award for her instrumental work in bringing a grocery store to her constituents.  The award recognizes civically engaged women leaders around the country.  Along with her position on City Council, Webb is a community organizer for Citizen Action of New York, a state affiliate of USAction.

Because of Webb’s efforts, the north side of Binghamton will finally have access to fresh food after almost 15 years without a grocery store.  To get the project moving, Lea mobilized stakeholders and interested parties.  She engaged university professors, county officials, community groups, local charities, the mayor, the state assemblyperson and New York state senator Malcolm Smith.  The project came into fruition last year, and the grocery store will open this spring.  The Save-a-Lot grocery chain will not only provide healthy food to north side residents, but it will also hire locally, pay a living wage, provide employee benefits and address the ethnically diverse food needs of the neighborhood.  Having grown up in Binghamton myself, it is very inspiring to see this great work happening in my hometown.

In addition to this prestigious award and feature in Oprah Magazine, Webb was honored at USAction’s 10^th Anniversary Awards last fall.

Do you know anyone doing inspiring work in your community?  Feel free to share their story in the comments section!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS