Buffalo supermarket targeted in mass shooting was oasis in a ‘food desert’

Tops Friendly, site of attack that left 10 people dead, was vital community hub in East Buffalo: It was everything to us'

Tops Friendly on Jefferson Avenue in East Buffalo was more than just a grocery store. It served as community center, a place to hang out, a source of employment - and a spot for healthy sustenance unavailable at bodega stores in an area described as the oasis in a food desert.

In the three days since Tops became the carefully targeted site of a mass shooting and was closed indefinitely, community groups, local advocates, western New York's emergency food network, corporate donors, churches and even Tops staff have scrambled to fill the gap.