“I’m going to come over here and sit and eat with my friends!” said a guest at Emmaus Soup Kitchen, at the first meal served inside the building since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. For almost two years, volunteers and staff have served dinner every day “to-go” style, through a window, in order to protect guests and volunteers from the possibility of being exposed to the virus while eating indoors. But with infection rates falling and vaccination rates rising, it was safe to offer seating again on Wednesday, March 9.

Seating, of course, is about more than just seating: at Emmaus, it means friendly conversation with guests and staff, time to linger over a hot meal, and bright yellow flowers in vases as centerpieces at each table. It’s about having a safe, warm place to go where you can count on being treated with respect. Or, as one woman told a volunteer, “I ride the bus half an hour each way to get dinner here because I know I can count on Emmaus.”  

Wednesday night’s supper of ham, cheesy potatoes, and green beans was made and served by longtime Emmaus volunteers. Patty Shea and her team of retired teachers from Pfeiffer-Burleigh School cooked the meal, and Debbie and Pat Shoup and Tom Lieb offered it to guests. Staff members Sister Mary Miller, Catherine Simon, Sister Rosanne Lindal-Hynes, Sister Val Luckey, and Rita Scrimenti were at the kitchen. Volunteer Colleen Hammon, as well as Blue Coat, Bruce Wayne, also joined to welcome guests in and celebrate this milestone with them. Sister Mary led the staff and volunteers in prayer just before the guests arrived:

God of all creation,
We thank you for food,
   And we remember the hungry.
We thank you for health,
   And we remember the sick.
We thank you for friends,
   And we remember the lonely.
We thank you for freedom,
   And we remember those in bondage.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
That your gifts may be used for others.
Amen.

For now, seating is only at half-capacity, with three people at each table instead of six, and with meals served to-go for those guests who still prefer not to risk eating inside, or who come when all the tables are occupied. But it marks a turning point in this pandemic, a moment of hope and of gratitude. “Thank you all so much for being here,” one man said as he finished his meal. “Thank you so much.”


Photos:
1. The first guest walks through the soup kitchen, with Rita Scrimenti (left) and Sister Rosanne (right) on either side.
2. Sister Mary offers a prayer.