The RoundUp: Grade school students pack lunches for the needy, get your ’You Matter’ cards this November

Feeding the needy. On Oct. 7, students at Nazareth Academy Grade School packed about 200 lunches as part of a monthly service project to feed the needy. The project, part of the school’s community-outreach initiative, is held on the first Monday of every month during the school year. Sixth graders and parent volunteers gather in the East Torresdale school’s multipurpose room before morning prayers and form an assembly line. Brown bags are filled with two lunch meat-and-cheese sandwiches, a sweet treat, and a piece of fruit. The supplies are purchased by school administrators using money donated by students in grades 4 through 8; students in grades 1 through 3 are asked to prepare a lunch at home and bring it in. A parent then drives the lunches to St. Francis Inn in Kensington, which has received over 1,600 lunches per year from the school. “The clients served by St. Francis Inn are appreciative and dependent on our generosity,” the school said on its website. “For some people, this is the only meal that they receive for the day.”

On the table. On Oct. 17, the Philadelphia Foundation will host its third annual “On the Table Philly.” The initiative, founded with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, invites members of the public to host and attend small group conversations across the city that center on issues impacting their lives and communities. The aim is to make communities stronger, safer, and more vibrant through discussions about issues, concerns, and possible solutions. The Foundation will provide up to $50,000 to implement ideas generated through those conversations, while registered hosts and participants can apply for mini-grants of up to $1,000 to pursue projects. For more information, visit philafound.org/onthetable.

Card carriers. This November, Glenside author Cheryl Rice will be shipping out business-style cards emblazoned with only two words: “You Matter." Rice hopes that her kindness campaign, which she started in 2016, will help spread goodwill and create positive connections among strangers. Anyone can request a box of cards, which are delivered free of charge as long as the recipient hands them out to anyone they come across. Rice’s goal is to distribute 25 million cards by 2025. So far, she has distributed 1 million cards throughout the United States and 73 other countries. For more information, visit youmattermarathon.com.

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