Getting On Their Feet and Doing Something: Sunday Suppers at Covenant
Volunteers fill void, provide meals for those who need them
Every Sunday for the past 14 years, First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant has served a dinner for food-insecure and unhoused individuals in our community. But this isn't an ordinary soup kitchen. Sunday Suppers serves meals on real tableware with real silverware and has a warm and welcoming energy, with 15 round tables dispersed throughout the room. This past Sunday, on July 26, the church basement was filled with over 200 people needing a warm meal.
At the helm is Pat Tracy, who also runs the seasonal overnight shelter Our Neighbors Place. She had flowers tucked in her hair from a guest who came for a meal. Community members frequently approached Tracy while we chatted and she greeted them or gave them a hug. "One of my jobs is to be a hugger," she said. "I believe there's a great value in personal touch."
During Independence Day weekend in 2012, Tracy heard a guest at the shelter mention that they would be dumpster diving for food when the shelter was closed on Sunday night. "That was the first we knew that there was no free meal in downtown on Sunday, and that's how the idea was born," Tracy said.
Ever since that time, different churches, clubs, support teams, youth groups, and businesses have been bringing food and serving it to Erie's unhoused and impoverished community from 4 to 5:30 p.m. every Sunday. According to 2023 data from Feeding America, 15.1 percent of Erie County residents are food insecure. Tracy explained that more people come to Sunday Suppers during the end of the month when they run out of their monthly SNAP allowance. This Sunday, there were so many people that the volunteers were unable to serve second helpings in order to make sure everyone was fed.
They served classic picnic fare like hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, desserts, and lemonade.
Michelle, one of the volunteers serving food, told me she went to mass at St. Peter Cathedral and found out they were serving food at Sunday Suppers that evening. "It's kind of neat the idea of the real plates and actually dishwashing," she said. "They do things differently but accomplish the same thing which is feeding the hungry."
The suppers provide more than just a full belly. "That hunger maybe gets them in the door, but we have a relationship with people. We respect people. You can come in and be present no matter who you are," Tracy said. During the mealtime, the crew called emergency services for one individual and they regularly provide showers to a handful of people who are sleeping rough in the summertime.
When folks began to file out around 5 p.m., the volunteers cleaned up and shared a meal. "We can pray for the hungry all we want, but unless you get on your feet and do something, people are still hungry," Tracy said. "It's all well and good to say somebody should feed these people, but that somebody is us."
Alana Sabol can be reached at alana@eriereader.com
