Bill Buffington is a familiar face at St. Pat’s, as well as around Kennett Square.  Chances are, if someone needs a helping hand, Bill’s will probably be among the hands helping.

Bill was born and raised in the Kennett area.  When he was 16, he contracted polio and spent the next 52 days in the hospital.  He recovered and spent much of his time afterwards at a local stable, standing by the fence and watching the horses.  A stable owner noticed, and offered him a job cleaning  the stables and exercising the horses. 

Bill  spent much of the time over the next five years riding horses.  It was the perfect job to complete his recovery from polio — not  to mention a great experience for a young man.  During the  period he was working at the stable, in 1950, he met Mary, the love of his life, on a blind date.

Next, Bill did a stint in the Navy.  He spent four years on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War.  In 1951, on his first leave, he came back to Kennett and married Mary.  They traveled back to Florida, where he was stationed, and she remained there until he was discharged.  With his duty done, the Buffingtons returned to Kennett Square and Bill started his landscape business. 

That same year, 1954, Bill started on his second career, helping those in need.  He joined a group of several volunteers, headed by Norman Connell, packing and delivering Christmas food baskets.  That first year there were 14 baskets. 

In 1971, Bill took over as head of the group and has led it ever since.  This past year, 65 volunteers prepared 350 baskets.  The Christmas basket effort begins in October, with collecting names of families in need and ordering food.  Most names come from organizations like Mision Santa Maria, Catholic Social Services, La Communidad, Migrant Education and local schools.  In 2004, the group started preparing and delivering Thanksgiving food baskets in addition to the Christmas food baskets.

Early on, Bill and Mary kept donated food at their home and people would call and pick it up directly throughout the year.  The enterprise became too large for a home operation and, in 1987, the Kennett Food Cupboard set up shop at 15 S. Broad Street, where it operates to this day.  The Food Cupboard is run by volunteers and gets its food from local churches, schools and the county government.  It operates under the umbrella organization of Kennett Area Community Service (KACS), also spearheaded by Bill.  The KACS provides temporary assistance with heat and doctor bills, rent and emergency housing.

Bill’s commitment to serving others is truly inspiring.  He is a past president of the Rotary Club.  The Chester County Chamber of Commerce named him “Southern Chester County Citizen of the Year.”  Bill was also on the board of the Senior Center when it was first opened over 25 years ago.  In the early 1980s, he oversaw the building conversion for the current Senior Center. 

In March of 2004, Bill, representing KASC, and Mary, representing the Kennett Grange, started a new group called the Kennett Area Resource Effort (KARE).  This group, made up of representatives of local charitable and service organizations and churches, is an effort to coordinate available services and create a reference document listing outreach agencies and the services they provide.  There are also long-range plans to address other needs, such as emergency housing, low-income housing and a soup kitchen.

Bill is semi-retired from his business, but continues to work at full steam assisting those in need.  In his spare moments, he and Mary enjoy spending time with their four children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  A 1962 convert to Catholicism, Bill continues to serve within the parish community as well.  He is the current Vice-Chairman of St. Patrick’s Pastoral Council, and also serves as a Eucharistic Minister and a Collection Counter.  Bill’s life can certainly be used as a true example of Christian charity at work. 

With typical modesty, Bill’s explanation for his extraordinary life is, “I like helping people.”