Soroptimist club celebrates women leaders of local nonprofits

Woman of Distinction Award- Cathy Synder

What began as a dream–getting surplus produce from farm fields to the tables of hungry families– has grown into a collaborative of 50 local farmers, 70 community food pantries, 21 emergency mobile markets and 200 active volunteers all focused on relieving hunger through the vision and leadership of Cathy Snyder.

Since Cathy started Rolling Harvest Food Rescue in 2010, it has managed to collect and distribute over three million pounds of nutritious food to our food-insecure neighbors in Bucks, Montgomery, Mercer and Hunterdon counties. During this time of unparalleled personal struggle, more than 24,000 hungry local residents, including many single mothers with children, benefit each month from the work of Rolling Harvest.

Cathy Snyder received the Woman of Distinction Award because she is a woman whose outstanding achievements professionally have been extraordinarily inspirational and impactful to the lives of women and girls.

Advancing the Status of Women Award - 100+ Women Who Care Bucks County

Based on the idea of giving busy women, who care deeply about their community, a way to contribute to its health and vitality, 100+ Women Who Care Bucks County was formed in 2014. Today, one-hundred eighty women meet each quarter for one hour and make a $100 quarterly donation to a local charity recommended and selected by members. Their impact formula is simple, yet powerful: 1 hour X 180 women = $18,000 X 4 = $72,000 per year invested in Bucks County. By combining resources, these women build a bridge between those in need and the charities serving them. The majority of the charities funded serve women with children who struggle to overcome challenges including homelessness, food insecurity, recovery, education, childcare, trauma and illness.

Lynne Kelleher, the organization’s founder, accepted the Advancing the Status of Women Award. The award recognizes organizations and businesses that are active and successful in advancing the status of women either through employment policies, scholarship and grants in support of women or advocacy on behalf of the improvement of women’s status.

Violet Richardson Award - Madeline Hoffman

In 2015, 11-year old Madeline Hoffman put her sewing skills to work for Buddee Bags, her newly launched charity. Since then, she has donated hundreds of items including telemetry aprons, wheelchair and walker bags, pillows and baby articles to those who needed them. She never thought she would be the one benefiting from her donations but, she did benefit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia while undergoing treatment for a serious medical event. Once home, she rallied others around her cause and raised $4,000 to purchase toys and crafts for CHOP’s cardiac unit and to make even more useful items for its young patients.

From her life challenge, Madeline found a future path in nursing and community service leadership. She is honored with this award because of her history of volunteer activism and her ability to identify a problem in our community and attempt to solve it.

SIIR is a chapter of the global women’s organization, Soroptimist International of the Americas (SIA), whose members volunteer to improve the lives of women and girls through access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. For more information on SIIR or SIA, visit investindreams.org. or soroptimist.org.