Bucks Food for Friends: More Relevant Than Ever
A typical meal served by Bucks Food For Friends
Since October 2008, Bucks Food for Friends (BFFF) has served meals on the third Monday of each month at the Fallsington Quaker Meetinghouse, with the mission to serve monthly home-style dinners in a warm, respectful atmosphere to those in need in the Lower Bucks County area.
BFFF grew from PYM Interim Meeting’s decision not to participate in a citywide homeless feeding program. At that time, representatives Chris Lucca from Yardley Meeting and the late Holly Olson from Middletown Meeting asked each other “Why not take care of those less fortunate in our own backyard?” From this conversation, an idea was born. After only five months of planning with other concerned Quakers, and with generous guidance from Andre Salz of Richland Meeting, the BFFF Planning Committee shared their first meal with eleven guests on October 20th, 2008. That number quickly increased to our current average of 60-70 guests per meal. We estimate that since our founding, we have served and distributed over eight thousand meals!
Bucks Food for Friends is operated by volunteers who are mostly local Bucks Quarter Quakers. We are blessed with two regular chefs, Marna Matthews and Mercy Ingraham, and a dedicated group of volunteers who set up the dining room, assist our chefs, help with meal service, and serve as clean up crew. The organization also continues to benefit from the generosity of donors such as Zook’s Fresh Poultry at the Newtown Farmers Market, who often donates poultry. BFFF also works closely with Advocates for the Homeless & Those in Need, who provide our guests with transportation to the meetinghouse.
Unfortunately, with the onset of the pandemic, we needed to eliminate the practice of serving in-person hot meals; instead BFFF has been creating “to go” meals which are delivered to homeless camps by Advocates for the Homeless & Those in Need. Post-pandemic, we look forward to resuming our normal in-person operations at Fallsington Meeting.
One of the most rewarding aspects of Bucks Food for Friends is how our work has expanded the number of available meals throughout the Bucks County region. BFFF leaders have coached others in how to organize dinners, and the number of organizations now providing meals has increased to the point where there is a meal available in Lower Bucks every night of the month!
Bucks Food for Friends is completely dependent on external donations to support our mission. Our single largest fundraiser is through sponsorship of those who participate in Philadelphia’s Race Against Hunger, which is held every April. Fortunately, these funds, combined with donations from individual meetings from the Quarter, have allowed us to remain fiscally sound at this time. Individual tax-deductible donations can be sent to Bucks Food for Friends, c/o Rich Richardson, Treasurer, 1 Atkinson Lane Newtown PA 18940.
New volunteers are always welcome. If you are interested, please contact Carol Richardson, Volunteer Coordinator, at c.richardson@cbhearthside.com.
Visit us at www.quakersbucks.org/bucks-food-for-friends.