WHY A FOOD-FOCUSED MISSION MADE SENSE
Here’s why a Thanksgiving food drive made perfect sense: Honey often hosted large holiday gatherings in which she showered her extended family with warm and loving hospitality. She also made dinner nightly for various neighbors throughout the years. Before sitting down to a
4:30pm-sharp dinner each afternoon, one of the five McVey children would deliver a heaping plate of food (think pot roast, meatloaf, pork chops and other comfort-food classics) to an elderly neighbor across the street, an ailing friend around the corner or the widowed uncle just a few houses down. And that’s how the idea of Honey’s Angels came to fruition.
MY, HOW WE'VE GROWN
When Cathy embarked on this mission to carry on her mom’s legacy in 2006, it was a small group of family and friends who rallied to provide 17 families with all of the ingredients necessary to cook Thanksgiving dinners similar to the ones Honey lovingly prepared each year. Now Honey’s Angels provides food assistance for Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We also sponsor select meals and celebrations at Broad Street Ministry, Nativity B.V.M. Place, Mighty Writers and others. To date, we've served thousands of families and individuals thanks to the support of hundreds of friends and strangers, inspired by Honey’s kind and compassionate ways.
Our success simply would not be possible without our supporters’ extreme generosity and devotion to our cause. We are so proud to do what we do, and we do it all in the name of a woman who inspired us daily with small acts of kindness that made—and continue to make—major impressions.
PRESS & ACCOLADES
The Associated Press, November 24, 2015
'Honey's Angels' provides needy families with holiday meals
KYW Newsradio, November 22, 2015
Positively Philadelphia: ‘Honey’s Angels’ Helps Struggling Families
Daily News, March 28, 2015
Honey's Angels: How a mother's legacy of kindness turned into helping feed others
CBS 3, November 21, 2012
Brotherly Love: Honey’s Angels Feed Families
Philebrity, November 2012
Nominated Honey’s Angels for its Outstanding Do-Gooder(s) of the Year Award
The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25, 2009
Also featured on Fox 29, NBC 10 and PHL 17 and in the Northeast Times, Port Richmond Star and The Philadelphia Sun.
THE BACK STORY
ABOUT HONEY
Cathy McVey Palmer conceived of Honey’s Angels in 2006, just a few short months after her mom—Helen “Honey” McVey—lost her brave battle against lung cancer.
Although devastated by the loss, Cathy felt compelled to carry on her mom’s legacy in a big way. Honey, as her name indicates, was a sweet, simple woman who spent most of her life in a tiny Philadelphia row home. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother; a devout Catholic; a caring neighbor; a gracious host; a generous friend; a reliable listener; a superior homemaker (cooking, cleaning, ironing—she was a master of it all).
Honey was style, grace and class. She was also a whole lot of fun. And quite certainly, she was the greatest example of how to live that Cathy had ever known.
So how would Cathy carry on the legacy of this simple but extraordinary woman? A scholarship fund? No. A walk? Maybe. A Thanksgiving food drive? Absolutely.