Founded in 1974, Aid For Friends is a grass roots organization, based in Northeast Philadelphia, that provides “food and friendship” to needy and isolated shut-ins, primarily the frail elderly, throughout Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Homebound people in the program receive free frozen homecooked dinners, delivered weekly by an empathetic volunteer during an extended (approximately one hour) friendly visit.

Aid For Friends is currently serving 2,113 shut-ins throughout the five-county Greater Philadelphia region. The bedrock of the interfaith charity is a network of 269 Catholic and Protestant churches, seven synagogues and countless community groups. More than 16,600 adults are now active volunteers; in addition, thousands of young people participate in Aid For Friends-sponsored service projects every year, most through their schools, Scout troops and youth groups in churches and synagogues.

For more information on Aid For Friends, including volunteer opportunities, call 215.464.2224; you may also visit the agency’s Web site, www.aidforfriends.org. To schedule an Aid For Friends speaker for your church, synagogue or community group, call the same number and ask for Lynn Trombetta.