Partnering with Feed Kids Pittsburgh: How ICR Is Helping Fight Food Insecurity in the South Hills

When AJ Owen set a few totes of groceries on his front lawn in Whitehall back in October, he didn't have a business plan, a nonprofit filing, or a marketing strategy. He had two kids, a conversation around the kitchen table about families losing SNAP benefits, and $150 worth of food from Aldi.

What happened next has been covered by CNN, ABC News, CBS, and Good Morning America. AJ's front-yard pantry went viral. Donations poured in from across the country. The Pittsburgh Steelers showed up. And what started as one dad teaching his sons a lesson about kindness has become Feed Kids Pittsburgh — a growing community effort to make sure no family in the South Hills goes hungry.

At Integrated Contracting & Renovations, we live and work in this community. When we heard what AJ was building, we knew we had to be part of it.

What ICR Is Doing for Feed Kids Pittsburgh

Our role in this partnership is straightforward, and it plays to what we do every day as a Pittsburgh design-build contractor: logistics, coordination, and putting infrastructure behind good ideas.

Specifically, ICR is helping Feed Kids Pittsburgh with:

• Coordinating food drives and donation drop-offs for community members who have signed up through the Feed Kids Pittsburgh website
• Storing food and supplies at our facility so AJ and his team aren't limited by the space in a single front yard
• Acting as a logistics hub so donations get from neighbors and businesses who want to help into the hands of families who need it

AJ has the heart, the platform, and the trust of this community. What he needed was a partner with warehouse space, a team that knows how to move materials, and the willingness to roll up our sleeves. That's a role ICR is built for.

Why This Partnership Matters to Us

The South Hills isn't just a market we serve. It's where the majority of our work happens — Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park, Whitehall, Baldwin, South Park, and the surrounding boroughs. These are the streets we drive every day, the neighborhoods where our crews are framing additions and finishing basements, and the communities where our clients live.

So when families in our backyard are choosing between groceries and the gas bill, that's not somebody else's problem. That's our neighbors.

We've always believed that the best contractors aren't measured only by the quality of their finished work. They're measured by what they do when nobody's watching the job site. Our goal isn't to be your average Pittsburgh contractor. Our goal is to be the contractor that goes above and beyond — for our clients, for our trade partners, and for the community we're lucky to call home.

Partnering with Feed Kids Pittsburgh is one of the ways we're putting that into practice.

About Feed Kids Pittsburgh and AJ Owen

AJ Owen is a single dad from Whitehall who, in late October, took his two young sons on a Steelers Sunday grocery run with a simple mission: buy food for families who couldn't. They came home, set up plastic bins on the front lawn, and put up a hand-written sign that read "Free food."

Within days, the totes were emptying as fast as he could fill them. Within a week, an anonymous donor left an envelope of cash in his mailbox with a note that read, "May God prosper and bless your food pantry." The story went national. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Yahya Black stopped by with a truckload of groceries and, eventually, Super Bowl tickets.

But the part of the story that matters most isn't the celebrities or the viral videos. It's the fact that the demand was there before SNAP benefits were ever threatened — and it hasn't gone away since. Families in the South Hills are still showing up. The pantry is still being emptied. The need is still real.

That's why Feed Kids Pittsburgh has grown from a front yard into something bigger, and why partners like ICR are stepping up to help carry the load.

How You Can Help

If you live in the South Hills — or anywhere in the greater Pittsburgh area — and you want to support Feed Kids Pittsburgh, the easiest way is to sign up through the Feed Kids Pittsburgh website. AJ and his team have built a system where community members can register, contribute food or funds, and coordinate drop-offs.

ICR is here to make that pipeline work. Donations can be coordinated through our team, stored at our facility, and routed to where they're needed most.

If you're a local business and you'd like to talk about partnering, donating, or contributing in a larger way, reach out to us directly at 412-608-0277 or through icrpgh.com. We'll connect you with the right people on AJ's side and help make sure your contribution lands where it'll do the most good.

This Is Just the Beginning

ICR has been building in the South Hills for years, and we're not going anywhere. The same is true of our commitment to this community. Partnering with Feed Kids Pittsburgh isn't a one-time press release for us — it's the start of how we want to do business going forward.

Expect more from us in the months ahead. More community partnerships. More opportunities for our clients, trade partners, and neighbors to get involved in something bigger than the next project. More reasons to believe that the contractor you hire should care about more than just the invoice.

We're proud to stand alongside AJ Owen and Feed Kids Pittsburgh. We're proud of the South Hills. And we're just getting started.

About Integrated Contracting & Renovations

ICR is a Pittsburgh-based design-build remodeling and construction company serving the South Hills and greater Pittsburgh area. PA HIC #157267. Visit icrpgh.com or call 412-608-0277.