The following was submitted to Glenside Local by Kerry Leraris, an Arcadia graduate and special education teacher:

The members of the Rotary Club of Glenside-Abington has been supporting the people served by Caring For Friends located in Northeast Philadelphia for more than six years. The mission of Caring For Friends (CFF) is simple to provide food and friendship to seniors, kids, and adults in the 5-county Philadelphia region. Their passion can be boiled down to two simple, yet crucial, aspects of life: food and friendship.

Rotarians have been delivering boxes of home cooked meals through CFF’s homebound meals program to 75 people on a monthly basis. They regularly help out in the Warehouse to prepare boxes, make sandwiches, and cook meals, they pick up donations and volunteer at their food pop up giveaways.

They also hold a semi annual Snack/Breakfast Bag packaging and Sandwich making event where they prepare between 500-1000 bags that will be distributed through the homebound program and the homeless outreach program. They also will prepare several hundred sandwiches to distribute through the homeless outreach program. 

On Thursday, August 20, 2026, the Rotary Club of Glenside- Abington will be holding a Snack Bag and Sandwich Making program at the Knight of Columbus hall located at 235 Limekiln Pike, Glenside, PA 19038. The goal is to make both 500 Snack Bags and 500 Hundred Sandwiches. If anyone would like to contribute items to make the bags and/or sandwiches, please contact Steve Vahey at stevenvahey@allstate.com or 215-512-5226 or Pat Demay at triciad1@comcast.net.

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Photos: Kerry Leraris