There are people
in the world so hungry,
that God cannot
appear to them
except in
the form
of bread.
Mahatma Gandhi
Emmaus Ministries
A commitment to the forgotten and the faceless of society – a Christian presence and outreach in Erie, Pennsylvania since 1974.
Soup Kitchen
Food Pantry
The Companion Newsletter
|
May 2017
 |
Mission
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
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
From the Director
Sister Mary Miller
After spending forty years in the soup kitchen, I’m beginning to understand the Leonard Cohen quote that appears on the cover of the newsletter: Ring the bells that still can ring/ Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in. Everywhere I look I see a fissure. In the system that keeps people in poverty and homelessness, in our efforts to help that often result in widening divisions, in lives broken by addictions, and certainly in all the “cracks” that I find in myself...
For the Record
Rock Out Erie: Kids Cafe
“When we walked back from Perry Square yesterday, we picked up random stones and rocks along the way,” said Ebony King, staff member at the Kids Cafe. “Today we are painting the rocks and soon we’ll hide them all over downtown as a part of Rock Out Erie.”
Rock Out Erie is a current fad in which people decorate and then hide rocks around town for others to find, post pictures on the Rock Out Erie Facebook page of what they found, and then re-hide the rocks. The creators of Rock Out Erie hope that finding the painted rocks will help to “bring a little joy...
Swimming Lake Erie for the Kids Cafe
“You even know how to swim?” D’yonne, a young boy at the Kids Cafe concernedly asked as he sat next to Chris Fetcko, a 41-year-old Erie employee of Citizen's Bank, who plans to swim Lake Erie in early August as a fundraiser for the Kids Cafe.
“Oh yes!” Chris replied and laughed. “I’ve been training for three years now to make this swim. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was your age. What do you really want to do when you grow up?”
“Play basketball,” D’yonne answered but had the same concerned look on his face. “You know there are huge fish in the lake, right? And that’s a long way… It’s way too dangerous for you...
Driveway completed; Medal Embedded
A circular drive was added to connect the Emmaus Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry driveways and parking lots.
Before the concrete dried, Sisters Mary Miller led the Emmaus staff in a small blessing of the property, the guests, and all who are involved with the Emmaus community and then placed a Benedictine medal in the concrete. A similar medal was recently placed in the renovated soup kitchen building.
Placing a medal expresses hope that peace will prevail with God’s blessing over the property.
Pictured: Members of Emmaus staff watch as Sister Mary Miller places the medal in the new circular driveway. (Above: left to...
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Walking Together on the Road to Emmaus
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 Brian Martin Brian Martin has been volunteering at the Emmaus Food Pantry for thirty years. “It’s hard to believe,” he said, “that I’ve been here so long!” To Brian, the Emmaus Food Pantry is an example of the story of Jesus feeding the masses in the Bible. Over his thirty years with Emmaus, he has seen the ministries grow to meet the needs of the poor and hungry with resources continually flowing in even when it seems they might not have enough. |
Soup's On: An Emmaus Journal
By Breanna Mekuly, a new employee with Emmaus Ministries. She grew up in Wisconsin, studied theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, and relocated to Erie this summer to intern with Sister Joan Chittister. She began working with Emmaus mid-fall 2016.
Week of July 31 - Aug 4“Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday,” one of the children at the Kids Cafe told me. “She’ll be nine! She’s celebrating by going to the beach. And she’ll get whatever she wants. And… she’s going to sell my youngest sister!” She’s going to sell her? I replied. Why would you sell her? |
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.
+ Virginia Mae Clements Meyer Thor
+ Barbara Ann Mack
+ Marian Woloshyn Smith
+ Adele Ward Bole
+ John E. Fries Sr.
+ Vera Szapowalowa Karowicz
+ Frances Bules Hofmann
+ Violet E. Popoff Sala (Vol)
+ Rudy "R.C." Wiesner
+ Herman K. Klauk (vol)
+ Marilyn Alice Graham Heberlein
Fulfill the Emmaus Wish List
We are in URGENT NEED of food items such as powdered milk, canned chili, beef stew or pasta, soup and canned fruit for our emergency bags. We ALWAYS need diapers (all sizes) and baby formula.
The Kids Cafe Store is in need of the following items:
Nail Polish
Travel size Kleenex
Pump bottles of hand soap
Dollar Store toys for Bingo prizes
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.