Huddle for Hunger Comes to Rochester: Dion Dawkins and Wegmans Bring the Bills' Food Drive to Calkins Road

Saturday morning on Calkins Road, a Buffalo Bills offensive lineman stood in the Wegmans parking lot collecting canned goods from cars. Dion Dawkins was there for the full event window — 11 a.m. to noon — working the drive-thru line, greeting donors, and loading donations. It was the first-ever Huddle for Hunger Rochester event, and everything collected went to Foodlink.

Huddle for Hunger Hits Rochester for the First Time

Huddle for Hunger Hits Rochester for the First Time

The Wegmans–Buffalo Bills Foundation partnership has run the Huddle for Hunger food drive for six years. Every prior event stayed in the Buffalo area. Saturday's drive at the Calkins Road Wegmans was the first time the campaign expanded to include a Rochester-area location — placing the Pittsford-area store at the center of a regional food-security effort.

The drive-thru format was straightforward: pull up, hand off non-perishable food donations, receive an exclusive co-branded Wegmans–Bills tote bag. Bills mascot Billy Buffalo worked the line alongside Dawkins, and live music and prize giveaways ran the full event window. All donations went to Foodlink, which serves more than 350 food pantries and meal programs across Monroe County and nine surrounding counties.

Why Dion Dawkins Made the Drive to Calkins Road

Why Dion Dawkins Made the Drive to Calkins Road

Dawkins was on site from 11 a.m. to noon, working the line and talking with people as they came through — not a brief appearance, a full hour of work.

"We're huddling up, we're gathering food, we're donating, and we're helping out," Dawkins told reporters. "Food is one of the biggest things that people don't have at times."

The Calkins Road appearance fits a longer record. Through his Dion's Dreamers foundation, Dawkins donated $10,000 to FeedMore WNY, with half the funds earmarked specifically for East Community High School's food pantry for the 2023–24 school year. "Food is energy, food is power, food helps the brain," he told the Bills website. "For you to start your day without a meal, you're starting off at a negative."

The Hunger Numbers Behind the Drive

The Hunger Numbers Behind the Drive

The expansion to Rochester came as food assistance demand in the region hit record levels. According to WXXI's reporting on Map the Meal Gap data, Foodlink logged 1.86 million food assistance requests across its network of 350+ pantries and meal programs in 2024 — a 40% increase from 2023. The food insecurity rate across Foodlink's 10-county service area hit 12.8% in 2023, the highest level in a decade.

The city-specific numbers are sharper. The 14605 ZIP code in northeast Rochester carries a 31.7% food insecurity rate — second-highest in New York State.

For comparison: in a prior Huddle for Hunger, the Wegmans–Bills partnership collected nearly 35,400 pounds of food across their combined drive. Foodlink accepts donations year-round at foodlinkny.org.