EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:
William J. Wagner                                 Gordon E. Clark
President and CEO                                 President and CEO
Northwest Bancorp, Inc.                           Leeds Federal Bankshares, Inc.
Northwest Bancorp, MHC                            Leeds Federal Bankshares, MHC
TEL: (814) 728-7716                               TEL: (410) 242-1234

NORTHWEST BANCORP, INC. AND LEEDS FEDERAL BANKSHARES, INC.
EXTEND MERGER AGREEMENT

     Warren,   Pennsylvania  and  Baltimore,   Maryland.  August  28,  2002.  As
previously announced, on August 16, 2001, Northwest Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: NWSB)
entered into an agreement to acquire Leeds  Federal  Bankshares,  Inc.  (Nasdaq:
LFED) The  transaction  is subject to the approval of the OTS,  and  Northwest's
application  is on file with the OTS but has not yet been  approved.  The merger
agreement  provided that if the transaction was not completed by April 30, 2002,
the parties would,  under certain  circumstances,  agree to extend the date upon
which the  transaction  must be completed for up to 120 days. On April 30, 2002,
the parties agreed to extend the date by which the transaction must be completed
to August 28, 2002 to provide  additional time to review the application of SFAS
141 and 142 to the  transaction,  which  review  has been the  primary  delay in
completing the  application  process.  On August 28, 2002, the parties agreed to
further  amend  the  merger  agreement  by  extending  the  date  by  which  the
transaction  must be completed to December 31, 2002.  The parties also agreed to
amend the  merger  agreement  to modify  the  structure  of the  transaction  by
eliminating the merger of Leeds Federal Bankshares, Inc. into Northwest Bancorp,
Inc and to make other  technical  changes to the agreement to effect the revised
structure.  As a result of such change, Leeds Federal Savings Bank will become a
wholly-owned  subsidiary of Northwest Bancorp,  MHC. As a result,  Leeds Federal
Savings Bank will not be part of the Northwest Bancorp,  Inc. consolidated group
immediately after the merger. The $32.00 per share cash consideration to be paid
to the public stockholders of Leeds Federal Bankshares, Inc. and all other terms
and conditions of the merger will remain unchanged.