Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Annie Hall, head of the East Side Crime Watch group, arranges food items during a recent community food and clothing giveaway she oversaw at the organization’s building in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — You could say that for years, wherever Annie Hall has gone, she has been stalked — or, to put it another way, a strong presence of community-mindedness is always following her.

“If they want them, they can come and get them,” Hall, 89, said.

She was referring to the most recent three-hour community food and clothing giveaway she spearheaded at the East Side Crime Watch building, 1001 Oak St.

Hall, who was born and grew up in Bennettsville, S.C., came to Youngstown in 1969 after having worked since 1951 in New York City for Robert Hall Clothes Inc., a Connecticut-based retailer that flourished for about 40 years beginning in the late 1930s. Many of the warehouse-style stores were concentrated in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

She also worked for the business’s Belmont Avenue location, which largely sold men’s suits, before the store closed, Hall remembered.

After the Belmont Avenue store went out of business, Hall relocated to Austin, Texas, where she worked for another Robert Hall Clothing store. She ultimately returned to the Mahoning Valley to be closer to her parents, Hall continued.

While in Bennettsville, she also drove a school bus.

“I did a lot of stuff in my life, and I thank God for being able to do it,” Hall added.

Some more stuff Hall did included having spent weekends picking up clothing for Creed the Cleaner, a longtime dry cleaning and alterations business in Struthers.

After returning to the area, she began working for the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.’s Campbell Works in 1971, mainly as a security guard, until it closed in 1977. At that point, she was transferred to Sheet & Tube in Aliquippa, Pa., Hall recalled.

In 1984, she began the food and clothing giveaways — “the same year Pat Ungaro was first elected as mayor of Youngstown,” she remembered. Hall also was supervisor of the East Side and other area block watch groups in the 1980s.

At the most recent community food giveaway on Aug. 14, Hall and several volunteers turned the building, which was a fire station, into a makeshift thrift store in which they distributed free bricks of cheese, bags of chicken tenders, canned goods, hot dogs, juices, premade bags of fresh vegetables, rice, green peppers, onions, flavored water and cereal.

She and the others also had a variety of dresses, pairs of socks, undergarments and shoes, along with miscellaneous items such as a coffee maker and children’s toys.

When asked why she conducts the giveaways — sometimes as often as twice monthly, depending on availability — she was ready with a straightforward reply.

“It’s helping out the community,” Hall said, noting that most of the food comes from Gleaners Food Bank in Youngstown and private donations.

The longtime community activist also has helped the community in several other ways, including giving away toys and coats to children and families during the Christmas holidays, as well as taking part in neighborhood cleanup events.

Hall’s contributions to the community also include her yearslong dogged efforts to continue battling crime in the city.

To that end, she is part of annual local National Night Out campaigns, which are the first Tuesday in August, and are set up to promote positive police-community-neighbor relationships via activities such as block parties, cookouts, parades and festivals.

In addition, she has partnered with Guy Burney, coordinator and executive director of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence collaborative, which is a partnership among law enforcement, social-service agencies and the community to reduce gun violence and related homicides.

Hall said she will continue with her community-mindedness as long as her health permits.

“I do a lot and everybody says, ‘How do you do it?’ and I say, ‘God is upstairs.'”

To suggest a Saturday profile, email Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com.

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