Feed a Friend Fund

The Community Foundation was deemed the perfect instrument to administer a new fund established by an anonymous donor family to address the family’s feelings to ensure continuing support for needy Susquehanna County residents. The family became interested to help the good works being done by the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Choconut, PA, in particular the struggling food pantry being thoughtfully but sparsely maintained there. The pantry depended on donations of foodstuffs, but financing a fuller range of items seemed to be a way that every person being served had an opportunity to have a greater selection from food products they may need in their particular situation. Further, like most of the funds at the Community Foundation, it was thought that the initial seed money of $10,000. would have a gravitational effect in drawing more donations once the need was identified. Accordingly, within just a few years the fund has tripled in assets.

St. Joseph Catholic Church was built in 1880, and at one time previously its site was seriously considered by the Brothers of the Holy Cross as the location for what was later to become the famous Notre Dame University in South Bend, IN. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church had to shut it down in 2010, and the Feed a Friend fund has since been administered by the Community Foundation for the greater needs in Susquehanna County. The church’s building has been cited as an historic landmark and has been continuously refurbished in stages as a community building used for gatherings as weddings, funerals, meetings, and general community support.