Holiday Food Drive Continues To Be Fruitful

by 
Roberta Balsam, UUH Outreach Program

The UUH Outreach Program’s annual holiday food drive is a beacon of hope to our clients — adults 60 and over living in Northwest Philadelphia. We launched it in a modest way in 2005, and were encouraged to see how our small acts of delivering groceries during the holiday season could have such a large impact on the people we served.

With the money that was donated, we were able to bring some special goodies into homes that struggle to keep stocked with the basics. Every year since then, our food drive has expanded to include more people. We now have the wonderful support of neighborhood organizations, schools, and community businesses that have agreed to collect food for us. Last year, with the help of our partners and the 37 volunteers who helped with sorting, packing and delivering, we were able to distribute 377 bags of groceries to older adults aging in place within our Northwest community.

Please help us to continue to grow by making a generous food donation as you shop at the Co-op or a cash donation directly to our organization. Every penny donated goes directly to our clients.

If you’re interested in doing more, consider becoming a volunteer to help us get the food sorted, packed and/or delivered. Or if you know of a site that would be willing to collect for us, give us a call at 215-843-5881. If you are a working member of the Co-op, you can earn hours by volunteering with us; there are food drive-related jobs posted on the Member Work Calendar.