first partnership<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n\u201cThis work reflects our commitment to help individuals through principles of self-reliance and service,\u201d said Blaine Maxfield, managing director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Welfare and Self-Reliance Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese programs are far-reaching and rooted in compassion, designed to lift individuals, families, and communities during times of greatest need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really kind of exciting, because it\u2019s not a time of crisis per se, but really a celebration. We\u2019re in a country where we\u2019re allowed to practice whatever faith we believe in,\u201d Hagedorn said.<\/p>\n
She added that dialogue on ways to expand charitable and volunteer partnerships has continued since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints constructed the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple in 2016, located across the Vine Street Expressway from the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an invitation to have Archbishop Chaput at the time, as well as all of us who were employees, come tour their new temple before it opened,\u201d Hagedorn said. \u201cThere was a real openness to combining for good, and that dialogue has continued since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
The food delivery\u2019s connection with nationwide celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence brings even more meaning, as helps to serve America\u2019s birthplace in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the cradle of liberty,\u201d said NDS Community Resource Director Donna Romero. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re known for, right? The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. What better way to show brotherly love?\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the food delivered to the Eddystone warehouse reflects how families are trying to stretch their food budgets.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeanut butter, pasta and flour: That\u2019s something I\u2019ve been seeing as I go out to the food cupboards,\u201d Romero said. \u201cEvery school has a canned food drive, so we have cans for days, but our people really love to cook and bake like everybody does. They want essentials. Things like flour and pasta are going to be really helpful for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
NDS\u2019 delivery driver will redistribute the food to the 50 partnering food cupboards throughout 2026, part of how Catholic Charities of Philadelphia meets the needs of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be me. That could be any of us,\u201d Romero said, citing a conversation she had with a parish administrator who was volunteering at a food cupboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis woman works at the church full time and she has a son in college. She said, \u2018The minute my son turned 18, (federal officials were) saying his benefits would be cut.\u2019 He was still in high school, not working. A few months later, they checked in and asked if he was working, and he\u2019s a full-time college student,\u201d Romero added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a real wake-up call for me that she is trying to figure out how to feed her family. She helps out at the food cupboard. She also benefits from the food cupboard as well now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NDS team has also witnessed that the need for food is increasing, but not as many people are coming to food cupboards, particularly in areas where ICE has grown its presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are afraid to leave their homes,\u201d Romero said. \u201cThese cupboards are trying to rethink (distribution). Instead of having our open food pantry hours, how can we get the food to these people?\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s food delivery and the America250 partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one way Catholic Charities acts as \u201ca stepping stone to help people be their best selves,\u201d Hagedorn said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted March 2, 2026 Catholic Charities of Philadelphia\u2019s Nutritional Development Services (NDS) has received…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3918,8364,59490,54574,54575,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-127695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-catholic-charities-of-philadelphia","9":"tag-jay-sorgi","10":"tag-latter-day-saints","11":"tag-nds","12":"tag-nutritional-development-services","13":"tag-philadelphia","14":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","15":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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