Volunteers and donations needed for Souper Bowl of Caring
SPRINGFIELD » Volunteers are preparing to fan out throughout many parts of Springfield, Morton, Rutledge, Ridley, Swarthmore and Aston as part of the
2021 Souper Bowl of Caring. On Saturday, Jan. 30, at
10 a.m., door hangers will be distributed by volunteers on homes’ door knobs, and contain information about how community members can help. Then, on Saturday, Feb. 6, the following local churches will collect and receive the donations: Blue Church, Covenant United Methodist Church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Tree of Life Church, St. Matthew Lutheran Church and Holy Cross Catholic Church.
New, this year, are COVID-19 guidelines. Since the churches cannot have large numbers of people sorting, packing and counting the donations on Feb. 6, as they have done in past years, small groups will do this work during the week following donation day.
One church, Chambers Memorial Presbyterian Church in Rutledge, will have food dropped off at the church starting Jan. 30, with the collection continuing through Feb. 7.
Many local food pantries will receive the food donations the following week, including Loaves & Fishes, Chester Eastside, Bernadine Center, City Team, Ridley Park United Methodist Church food Pantry, the Founder Church, Mt Hope Bread of Life, Covenant House, Holy Cross Food Pantry and more.
Signs will go out on lawns throughout the area starting on Jan. 30 to remind folks about the food drive. Residents are asked to contact the organizers for a sign to display on their lawn at delcosouperbowl@ gmail.com or https://www. facebook.com/delco-souperbowlofcaring. Residents can also sign up through these addresses, or by calling any of the participating churches, to volunteer.
Volunteers are desperately needed to help with this year’s annual Souper Bowl of Caring. Because of COVID-19, it has been more difficult to find volunteers since the usual volunteers have traditionally come from scout troops, softball teams, youth groups, and high schools. This year, everyone must wear a mask and not be in a group of more than ten. Collection sites will have masks, gloves, and sanitizer where needed.
Needed are non-perishable food items placed outside by 9:30 a.m. in bags or boxes clearly marked “Souper Bowl of Caring.” Before donating, people are asked to check the expiration date on all goods. Last year, a record number of items with bad dates had to be discarded, some three or four years old.
Delaware County’s Souper Bowl of Caring is a non-profit organization that works year round for its annual event hosted by volunteers, local churches and with local community involvement. They work to keep food banks in Delaware County stocked for those in need. The main event is held on Super Bowl weekend each year.
Register now for Red Cross blood drive in Broomall
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2191 West Chester Pike, Broomall,
will hold an American Red Cross Blood Drive 8 a.m. to
6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3. According to a press release, due to Covid-19, the Red Cross is having trouble finding places to have blood drives so the church wanted to help. People can sign up at www.redcrossblood. org and search by Sponsor Code: GLCBroomall, or call
1-800-RedCross. They can also call the church office at 610-356-1824 and leave a message with name, phone number and the time they are available.
McClinton, Williams host virtual expungement clinic Monday
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton, D-191 of Philadelphia, and state Sen. Anthony Williams, D-8 of Philadelphia, will host their Delaware County Expungement Clinic virtually, 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18. McClinton
said experts from the Legal Aid of Southeastern PA will be on hand to examine records and determine which charges or convictions can be expunged and sealed, as well as answer questions from participants.
Delaware County residents who are interested must pre-register for the Zoom event at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/
register/tZMvc-2hpjstG9Zi1hfIWBWHzth3Zdnbt4S.
DCCC’s Dialogues for Diversity Series hosts virtual event
Delaware County Community College continues its Dialogues for Diversity series of free, virtual, community-centered discussions, 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, with “Building Bridges Through Bipartisanship.” The event will feature special guest David Baime, senior vice president for government relations and policy analysis for the American Association of Community Colleges. The AACC is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges and represents nearly 1,200, two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 12 million students.
The Dialogues for Diversity discussion series is hosted by Delaware County Community College’s Center for Equity and Social Justice. In this first discussion of the new year, Baime will give a brief history of political partisanship in America and will share strategies for bridging the partisan divide, from smallscale ideas that everyone can engage in to larger initiatives that everyone can aspire to support. There will be plenty of time allotted for questions and answers for those participating in the discussion.
To register for this free Dialogues for Diversity discussion, visit dccc.edu/dialogue.
Delaware County Community College’s Center for Equity and Social Justice was created to encourage courageous, respectful, community conversations about the sensitive, often controversial issues of racism and social injustice. The center is under the purview of the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The center’s first event, held in July, was on the topic of policing in our communities and featured conversations with local police officers and community leaders. The center’s second event, held Sept. 29, and titled “Discussing Race in Our Communities,” featured New York Times-bestselling author Austin Channing Brown, host and executive producer of the video web series, “The Next Question,” which engages visionaries,
leaders and artists in the substantive questions of racial justice.
“A Year of Social Reckoning: What Comes Next?” was the topic of the third in the Dialogues for Diversity series held on Dec. 1. It featured David Brown, assistant professor of instruction and diversity adviser to the Office of the Dean for the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Dialogues for Diversity events are held as virtual webinars.
The Center’s Dialogues for Diversity programs are sponsored by the Village of Four Seasons and Visual Sound.