Students Who Give Back

April 18, 2018
1:01 pm

By Samantha Retamar, Communications Coordinator

For the past month, the young people of this country have been making headlines trying to enact change on a local and national level. Their efforts prove no matter your age you can be the change you wish to see in the world. This month, Philabundance would like to highlight our featured donors: students.

Students from the Friends' Central's Service Committee holding bottles of peanut butter at the Philabundance Hunger Relief Center — Friends’ Central’s Service Committee at our Hunger Relief Center

During the month of February, Philabundance held its annual Spread the Love campaign, aiming to raise peanut butter donations for children and families in need. Students from the Friends’ Central School in Montgomery County and Bethany Christian School in Chester County held food drives to help kids across the Delaware Valley.

Combined, the two schools raised over 1,000 pounds of peanut butter and jelly, heading to children across Philabundance’s nine county service area.

The student run Service Committee at the Friends’ Central School not only led the school wide initiative, but also held a bake sale to bring in funds for Philabundance to purchase more peanut butter. The student’s and their Service Committee advisor, Deborah Skapik, came to Philabundance’s Hunger Relief Center in South Philadelphia and packed more than 2,000 pounds of peanut butter.

Bethany Christian School’s fifth grade class after performing their play on hunger relief and food insecurity

The students at Bethany Christian School educated their peers with a play about food insecurity and hunger relief to end their month long food drive competition. The third, fourth and fifth grade classes brought in the highest number of donations and helped pack the Philabundance SUV to the brim with peanut butter and jelly.

These students heard about the problem of hunger in our area and chose to do something about it, and for that reason they are our featured donor.

Thank you Friends’ Central School and Bethany Christian School for being true hunger heroes and helping Philabundance drive hunger from our communities.

Bethany Christian School fifth graders loading food drive donations into Philabundance SUV

Philabundance Awards 49 Member Agencies with Capacity Grants

June 18, 2025

Philabundance has announced $250,000 in 2025–2027 Capacity Grants for 49 member agencies across Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. This funding will provide the operational capital needed to allow organizations to remain flexible and able to adapt to changing needs.

From faith-based institutions in Delaware County to social service agencies meeting the needs of diverse families across Philadelphia County, the 2025–2027 Philabundance Capacity grantees are among the hundreds of organizations that partner with Philabundance to support the more than 600,000 individuals in our region experiencing food insecurity.

The grantees include

Bucks County: Bucks County Opportunity Council; Faith Baptist Church
Delaware County: Blessed Virgin Mary; Loaves & Fishes; Prayer Chapel Church of God in Christ
Mercer County: Prince of Peace Center
Montgomery County: Bethel Community Church; ElderNet of Lower Merion and Narberth; Grace Lutheran Norristown; Love Works Resource Center; Mitzvah Circle; Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard; Patrician Society
Philadelphia County: African Family Health Organization; Alexander McClure Elementary School; Bebashi; Bethany Missionary Baptist Church; Breaking Bread on Broad; Bright Hope Baptist Church; Broad Street Love; Brothers of Strawberry Mansion; Calvary Agape Outreach Services; Casa Del Carmen; Cast Your Cares; Christ Apostolic WOSEM; Community Center at Visitation; Episcopal Community Services; The Family Practice & Counseling Network; First Church Worship Center; Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry; Grace Community Christian Center; Kensington Health Sciences Academy; Lutheran Settlement House; Mighty Writers; Mi Salud Wellness; Nationalities Services Center; North Light Community Center; Old Pine Community Center; Open Door Ministries; Our Brothers Place; Paul L Dunbar School; Project H.O.M.E.; Southwest Family Service Center; St. Paul Outreach; Word In Action International Ministries
York County: Bethlehem Baptist Church; Mattie Dixon Community Center
Southern New Jersey: Puerto Rican Unity for Progress; SisterHood Inc.

Philabundance Capacity Grants help improve each organization’s ability to operate more efficiently and deliver effective food distribution programs and services. To date, $4.4 million dollars in Philabundance Capacity Grants have been allocated for capacity-building infrastructure, such as refrigerators, freezers, refrigerated vans and technology to empower community partners and improve the food distribution network.

“As federal resources continue to shrink and hunger remains a distressing reality in the Greater Philadelphia region, community-based nonprofits are often a lifeline for families in need of healthy food,” said Loree D. Jones Brown, CEO of Philabundance. “Investing directly in our partners and their infrastructure allows us to swiftly and efficiently meet the needs of thousands of our friends and neighbors experiencing food insecurity.”

“Breaking Bread on Broad is [very] grateful for the new refrigerators we will be able to purchase with our Philabundance grant,” said Dan Seltzer, co-leader of Breaking Bread on Broad (BBoB). “Breaking Bread on Broad is the food pantry of Congregation Rodeph Shalom whose mission is to provide our neighbors in need with food, diapers and period supplies each week. With this grant, we will be able to provide our BBoB neighbors with more fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein to better feed their families.”

“With this funding, Casa Del Carmen will invest in critical hardware—such as commercial refrigeration, durable shelving, metal prep-table and mini hand pallet jack—that will enhance the efficiency and reliability of our food pantry operations,” said Janet DeJesus, office manager at Casa Del Carmen. “These improvements will allow us to store more fresh and nutritious food, reduce waste, and serve our neighbors more quickly and with greater dignity. By strengthening our infrastructure, we are not only improving daily logistics but also deepening our commitment to food security and community well-being.”