Emmaus Ministries

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Help feed the hungry.

Emmaus Ministries

A commitment to the forgotten and the faceless of society – a Christian presence and outreach in Erie, Pennsylvania since 1974.

Mission

EMMAUS MINISTRIES: A Commitment to the Forgotten and the Marginal
— to the faceless of society who get left out and left behind without support at times of crisis

— to the single mother whose life is a constant struggle to provide simple necessities for her children

— to the child lost in poverty whose present is barely human and whose future is already lost

— to the elderly whose basic needs are too great for a check that is too small

— to the working poor who work in the lowest of low paying jobs and never get ahead

Read more about

Contact Information

Emmaus Ministries, Inc.
345 East 9th Street
Erie, PA 16503
Phone: 814-459-8349
Fax: 814-459-8066
Email:
Sister Mary Miller, OSB
Margaret Kloecker
Rita Scrimenti
Breanna Mekuly
Valerie Luckey
Catherine Simon
Emmaus Soup Kitchen
218 East 11th Street
Erie PA 16503

Sister Gus' Kids Cafe
310 East 10th Street
Erie PA 16503
814-878-2922

Breaking the Bread

There are people
in the world so hungry,
that God cannot
appear to them
except in
the form
of bread.

Mahatma Gandhi

From the Director

Sister Mary Miller

A prayer to Mary that I learned as a child had this line: “…to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.” I suppose, after 40 years at Emmaus, I could see life as a “valley of tears” with its relentless suffering, endless poverty, and daily heartbreak.

Emmaus Receives Hygiene Bags from Erie Day School

On a chilly morning just before Thanksgiving, a group of grade school students at Erie Day School hurried back and forth from their classrooms to the parking lot, carrying bag after bag of donations for the guests of Emmaus Ministries and other local organizations. They were met in the parking lot by Sister Valerie Luckey, Emmaus ministry assistant and Rita Scrimenti, Emmaus social worker, who were receiving 86 bags of hygiene products that would be given out at the soup kitchen.

Abby Hartman, a teacher at Erie Day School and Student Council coordinator, who has organized this give-away for several years, explained that each...

Debbie, Catherine, Debbie, Pat, and Dick

A grandmother whose face mask was printed with the word “love,” a young dad who recently immigrated to the United States, and a man who was so tired he said he could hardly remember how to smile, all found themselves celebrating an early Thanksgiving dinner on November 18th, along with 268 other hungry residents of Erie who came to Emmaus Soup Kitchen.

Emmaus coordinates with local other soup kitchens and food providers in the city, with each organization offering their Thanksgiving dinner on a different day. This ensures that everyone who may be experiencing hunger and poverty, everyone who has nowhere else to go on the holiday,...

Thanks to a recent grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Emmaus Ministries was able to purchase a 2014 Freightliner truck for its food pantry this month. The truck replaces the previous one, which had been in use for nearly a decade. The Food Recovery Infrastructure grant program, which is designed to support food pantries in their mission, was expanded by Governor Tom Wolf at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emmaus Ministries received $95,000 in grant money from the program in May 2020, which was earmarked to replace necessary equipment. In addition to the new truck, Emmaus purchased a new walk-in freezer last year....

Volunteers and Donors

Emmaus depends on many volunteers and donors at the food pantry, soup kitchen and Kids Cafe.Call 814-459-8349 if you would like to volunteer. Click here to make a donation.

Meet Darrell Meyers

The volunteers who show up at Emmaus day in and day out create the heartbeat of the ministry. Darrell Meyers has been part of that rhythm at the soup kitchen for over two decades.

Soup's On: An Emmaus Journal

By the Emmaus Ministries staff

December 17, 2021

From Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, Emmaus Communications Assistant

+++

It’s a week before Christmas, and I’m volunteering at Emmaus Soup Kitchen. Well, I’m supposed to be. But the crew of volunteers that’s here tonight are old pros, and they have everything–the stuffed chicken breast, the salad and roll, the special dessert–well under control. So I’m sitting by the side door with Sister Rosanne, who is waiting for the women who have made appointments with her. One by one, they come to the door and she goes out to meet them, talking for just a few minutes about whatever their most pressing problem is, and then, inevitably, Sister Rosanne hands each one an envelope–with her name written on it in her big, looping cursive–and pulls her in for a hug.

Remember Emmaus with a Memorial

We are grateful to family members who ask that memorials be made to Emmaus on the death of loved ones. Visit our secure site to offer a memorial.

+ Doris Jean Mitchell Murphy

+ William James Bell

+ Leo W "Bud" Schlecht

+ Charlotte Ann Bartlett

+ Mary Alice Wilczynski

+ Richard T "Dick" Barczyk

+ Frances M Baronett Jefferys

+ Palla J Tautin

+ Jacqueline "Jackie" Ann Presutti

+ Edward V Bolt

+ Thomas J Matusiak

Fulfill the Emmaus Wish List

You can always help us stock our shelves at the soup kitchen with ground coffee, instant tea and instant lemonade, jelly/jam, peanut butter, maple syrup, mayonnaise/miracle whip, soup, and canned fruit. We ALWAYS appreciate diapers (all sizes) and baby formula.

The Kids Cafe Store is in need of the following items:
New Sweatpants (unisex; children's sizes 6-18 and adult size small)
New Sweatshirts (unisex; children's sizes 6-18 and adult size small)
New Girl's Jeans/long pants/leggings (children's sizes 6-18 and adult sizes small and medium)
Permanent Markers
Used Hardcover Books (for art projects)
Used Magazines
Lotion (especially cocoa butter, shea butter, and moisturizing lotion)
Pencil Sharpeners
Water Color Paper
Washable Acrylic Paint
Christmas Toys (for children ages 6-14)

Attention Bakers!!! We welcome homemade treats for our guests. If you're a baker, know that our Emmaus guests appreciate cookies, cakes, pies…sweets of any kind.

Call 814-459-8349 for more information or to schedule your donation.

Pray with Emmaus

Please join with the Emmaus community in reciting this prayer daily.

Prayer of St. Vincent DePaul

You will find that charity
is a heavy burden to carry,
heavier than the kettle of soup
and the basket of bread.

But you must your gentleness
and your smile keep.

Giving soup and bread
isn’t all that you can do.

The poor are your masters-
terribly sensitive and exacting
as you will see.

But the more demanding they seem
the more unjust and bitter
the more you must give them your love.

DONATE NOW.
Help feed the hungry.