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

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

Dear Friends of Emmaus, As a follower of Saint Benedict, I have always loved the opening lines in his Rule, “Listen with the ear of your heart.” I guess it’s because I spend so much of my day trying to learn to listen. I try to listen to the words of Scripture, to other people, to the world, and to myself… to what’s inside of me. I’d like to say a little about listening to scripture...

Christmas Gifts to Emmaus

Thank you to our donors for:

A dozen Christmas trees from Tim Holland;
Cookies from St. Jude parishioners; cookies and cakes from the youth at St. Peter and Paul Byzantine; and cookies from children who baked at home with their families;
Candy and holiday greetings from the Sunshine Club;
Gingerbread houses from Lynda Pryor, Gearing Up Instructor with Helping Hands, and her after school...

Kids Cafe Christmas Store 2018

Thanks to all the donors of the Christmas Store at the Kids Cafe. The children had a wonderful time.

Kelli Deighan, Hailey Keating, and Amy Bauschard of Mercyhurst University

“Oh good, you’re donating LEGOs,” said Kids Cafe coordinator, Stephanie Grear, to the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society of Mercyhurst University when they delivered gifts for the children’s Christmas Store.

The Honor Society donated much more than LEGOs, including footballs, dolls, and more. But Stephanie was most excited about the LEGOs because recently, when asking the children at the Kids Café what four items they would ask of Santa for Christmas, one little boy said: “LEGOs, LEGOs, LEGOs, and… LEGOs!” And when asked if he thinks he’ll get any, he said, “I know I’m going to get LEGOs for Christmas because I told Santa that...

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.

Reflections from a Year Long Volunteer: Priscilla Reitcher

How did you find yourself in Erie, PA?
Priscilla: I was in the Benedicta Riepp program of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie where I experienced monastic living by living, working and praying with the Sisters.

And how did you find yourself at Emmaus?
Priscilla: The Food Pantry was one of my work assignments. Working for a year at the Emmaus Ministries’ food pantry has been a great honor and blessing for me.

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.

Month of October

Emmaus is sometimes a place family members meet: for example, tonight at the soup kitchen we had two sets of twins! One set is four, the other 12 years old. They are cousins and told me that twins run in their family. Both families I have seen before, but I’ve never seen them in the family dining room together. They were thrilled to see one another, the older girls just as happy to be models for the younger ones as the younger ones were happy to be coddled by the elders.

+++

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.

+ Helen A. "Kowalski" Kowalewski

+ Virginia L. Albert

+ Phyllis A. Zack

+ Elayne Ann LoRe Comi

+ John F. Kloecker

+ Rudolph Thomas "Tom" Rinke

+ Richard Leonard "Dick" Czerwinski

+ Mary Ann (Young) Weiser

+ Robert Lawrence Theiss (vol)

+ Mary S. Leonardi

+ David A. Cologrande

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:
School supplies
hand sanitizer,
Kleenex,
hair supplies (shampoo and conditioner, hair ties, brushes, picks, head bands, etc.)

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.