San Jose food pantry faces opposition from neighbors

When Lighthouse Food Rescue Distribution first started handing out groceries in San Jose’s Northside neighborhood in 2020, Robert Wright welcomed it and its mission to feed disadvantaged residents. He pitched a Lighthouse yard sign in front of his house near the food pantry, which sits at the corner of East Julian and North 17th streets in the middle of blocks of single-family homes. Soon after, he began fielding complaints about the operation — blocked driveways, discarded food, people urinating and defecating in the area and neighbors being unable to use the sidewalk because of the outdoor food distribution. As a board member for the Julian-St. James Neighborhood Association, the 75-year-old Wright defended the food pantry as doing good, necessary work. But the complaints continued, and after a year his patience wore down. Wright is now part of a chorus of neighbors who say Lighthouse’s operations have gotten too big for the area to handle. The food pantry serves more than 1,000 pe