Aidan Vanhoof

Oct. 26, 2025

Camden, N.J. — Marlene Laneader poses next to a dog owned by Donna Emma, a retired social worker who lives in Deptford, whom Laneader calls “Ding Dong Lady” for her large dessert donations on Oct. 26, 2025. (Aidan Vanhoof)

by Aidan Vanhoof

Camden, N.J. — On the last Sunday of every month, charity organizer for Good Samaritan Ministry Marlene Laneader and a crew of volunteers load her car with hundreds of sandwiches, toiletries, and other necessities, travel to Camden, N.J., and distribute them to those in need. 

On Sunday, Oct. 26, the 67-year-old began on the streets, blaring her horn and hanging out her car window. Some recognized her, some didn’t, but most heard her go-to aphorism, “Go Birds,” followed by the regular calls for anyone seeking resources.

“Nobody should go to school hungry. Nobody should go to work hungry. It’s not just poor neighborhoods anymore. It’s every neighborhood, and it drives me cuckoo that people aren’t helping anybody anymore,” said Laneader.

Volunteers then stopped at the Home of the Brave, a Camden homeless shelter for veterans, where attendees enjoyed donated snacks and Primo Hoagies’ roast beef and turkey sandwiches donated by Paul Franke, a local businessperson, who gives 50 a month.

Camden, N.J. — Food and snacks cover tables at the Home of the Brave homeless shelter on Oct. 26, 2025. (Aidan Vanhoof)

Despite dedicating swaths of her time to a veteran’s shelter, she doesn’t just serve veterans. Laneader cited those who serve only a specific community as a “pet peeve” of hers, preferring to help anyone who needs it. 

“We don’t just feed the veterans. We feed the whole house. That’s one of my biggest pet peeves, because how do you go to the front of the building where everyone’s smelling food and just feed a portion of the building,” said Laneader.

She began in 2014, when she noticed a Facebook post about a homeless second-grader.

“One of my friends wrote that she had a second-grader that was homeless, and I couldn’t get that concept out of my mind,” said Laneader. “My other girlfriend wrote that her and her boyfriend were going to go out and give out sandwiches. And I wanted to join them, and so I posted about the sandwiches and I posted about this little girl not having a coat. And it just took off, people wanted to help.”

Since then, she’s been deeply invested in charity work. She says she’d do anything for those in need, describing herself as a rebel who “will arm wrestle you in the front.”

“That’s my Camden, baby. You want to mess with me, I’ll mess with you,” said Laneader.

At the moment, she’s most in need of soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. However, she says anything helps, even items that may otherwise seem unhelpful.

“I want to fill hungry bellies, and it’s going to get worse. So if it can get me people to help me feed five more bellies, I’m in,” said Laneader.

Laneader emphasized that she wasn’t alone in her efforts. On Sunday, the approximately 40 volunteers working for the Divine Deli at the Church of the Incarnation in Mantua produced 651 sandwiches, but they’ve made upwards of 1,000 on past occasions, according to Shannon Alessandrini, a stay-at-home mom from Mantua working alongside Laneader. 

The remaining food goes to various other shelters with the help of Mullica Hill realtor Bob Kraemer, who covers soup kitchens and domestic violence shelters in Vineland, according to Laneader. 

Besides the sandwiches, volunteers often bring their whole families, crafting place mats, decorating bags, and writing supportive notes, cards, and banners. 

“People sign up to do different things… We have kind of an assembly line,” said Alessandrini.

Mantua, N.J. — Volunteers assemble sandwiches for the Divine Deli at the Church of the Incarnation’s Kernan Center in Mantua on Oct. 26, 2025. (Aidan Vanhoof)

In addition to this, once a month they personally cook an elaborate dinner for the hungry at Home of the Brave. Last time, they had former NFL player Art Still attend. 

Across her now 11 years of volunteering in Camden, she’s been shot at and carjacked. But she continues, and she appears to have no intention of stopping. 

“I start screaming at the top of my lungs… I turn around. And I see all the guys are on their bicycles in their wheelchairs rolling over to me. Not Ms. Marlene, not our mom,” said Laneader. “Sometimes I get up, and I’m like, ‘this year’s the last one,’ but I’m still going.”