Bucks Co. Grocer Jim McCaffrey Honored With Prestigious Award

NEWTOWN, PA — Bucks County grocer Jim McCaffrey Sr., who opened his first store in Lower Makefield in 1986, was honored Wednesday with a Paul Harris Fellow Award by the members of the Newtown Rotary Club.

In presenting the award, Rotary Club President Steve Sabel commended the Upper Makefield resident for successfully growing his first store into eight locations in Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania and in Mercer County, New Jersey. Today, his stores and his commissary employ more than 1,000 associates and earn about $200 million annually in revenue.

To underscore McCaffrey's commitment to the community, Sabel read from the store's mission statement, which says, "Supporting the people of the communities it serves is an important and integral part of our values. We do that in many ways by providing food for people in need, offering financial support to organizations, participating in local events, sitting on the board of non-profits. Our policy is to support local organizations that provide a needed benefit of which we serve, especially those with a focus on food.”

Sabel commended McCaffrey for giving back to the community through his service to a myriad of community groups and organizations.

The Newtown Rotary Club's board of directors joins President Steve Sabel in presenting McCaffrey with the Paul Harris Fellow Award.

Jim McCaffrey accepts the Paul Harris Fellow award from members of the Newtown Rotary Club.

His involvement is not just in the food industry, McCaffrey is a beloved and respected member of the greater Bucks County community known for his philanthropic and personal support, said Sabel.

McCaffrey is a member of the board of trustees at St. Mary Medical Center, a board member with Langhorne Physician Services, a board member and past chair of the New Jersey Food Council, president and chairman of the board of directors of the Yardley-Makefield Emergency Unit, an endowment fund board member of the Garden of Reflection (the official Pennsylvania 9-11 Memorial), the advisory board of the Bucks County Arts Center, and formerly served on the National Retail Advisory Board for SuperValu.

“For our club, he has donated to our Hope on the Vine fundraiser, the club’s annual golf outing for Pickering Manor and has supported our spring and summer food drives at McCaffrey’s, said Sabel.

Sabel was joined by the club’s board of directors and District Governor Helen Cook “in honoring a Bucks Cpunty hero - Jim McCaffrey - as a Paul Harris Fellow.”

“This is a very humbling experience,” said McCaffrey. “I’m truly blessed to be a part of this community. I made a commitment in every one of the communities that we’ve opened a store to not only do business in that community but to be an integral part of that community. We try to do that in so many different ways.

“I tell my people, ‘We think we’re in the food business, but we’re not. We’re in the people business.' It’s all about people, not only our customers but our suppliers and our associates. We’re all part of the community and we’re proud to be part of the community.”

McCaffrey joins a prestigious group of individuals from around the world who have been named Paul Harris Fellows including Mother Theresa, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, American actress and singer Pearl Bailey, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Astronaut Jim Lovell, former UN Secretary Javier Perez de Cuellar and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk.

McCaffrey’s operates stores in Newtown, Yardley, New Hope, Blue Bell, Gladwyne and Doylestown (Simply Fresh) in Pennsylvania and in West Windsor and Princeton in New Jersey.