Soup Kitchen & Outreach at Saint Ignatius
"You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the Tabernacle, if you do not pity Jesus in the slums. . . It is folly -- it is madness -- to suppose that you can worship Jesus in the Sacraments and Jesus on the throne of glory, when you are sweating him in the souls and bodies of his children." --- Bishop Frank Weston at the 1923 Anglo-Catholic Congress
Soup Kitchen
The Saint Ignatius of Antioch soup kitchen offers healthy takeaway meals every Saturday at 4 PM and every Monday at 7 PM from our entrance at 552 West End Avenue. (For directions, click here.) Each to-go bag contains freshly made soup, sandwiches and extras such as fruit. Our mission to serve everyone who comes to our door in a manner that respects their dignity and privacy. Service goes very quickly: Guests are encouraged to arrive 10 minutes before service begins.
Our volunteer-run soup kitchen has operated for than 35 years, continuing to serve our community through hurricanes, blizzards and a global pandemic. We follow safety and sanitation guidelines to maintain the health of our guests and our volunteers. We are grateful for support from individual donors, Episcopal Charities and the Church World Service Crop Walk.
To donate to the soup kitchen: Use Paypal here, or send a check payable to St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church (with “Soup kitchen” in the memo line).
The soup kitchen also accepts donations of:
- Kitchen supplies (dishwashing liquid, paper towels, kitchen sponges)
- Shelf-stable pantry items and canned goods that can be used to make soup (no sugary foods, no breakfast cereal).
- Individually packaged snack items (crackers, juice boxes) must come in quantities of 20 or more.
For food safety reasons, we do not accept:
- Food that has been previously cooked or served
- Food that is not individually packaged, or has an open or broken seal
- Anything containing alcohol
The soup kitchen also offers toiletries to our guests. If you have unopened soaps, deodorant, or bottles of shampoo from your travels, or could pick up small toothpastes or shaving supplies, we have a basket inside our West Avenue door to drop them in. We do not accept donations of clothing.
For directions, click here.
Volunteer opportunities:
A small team of volunteers prepare food and pack to-go bags each Saturday from 2 PM to 4:30 PM. Monday’s meals are served by just one to two volunteers. Because of the small size of our kitchen, we cannot accommodate groups of more than 3 volunteers. To learn more about volunteering, email wardens@saintignatiusnyc.org, or contact volunteer coordinator Nick Greendyk here.
Soup Kitchen Volunteers at Work
New Outreach initiative: Pass the Purse, Please.
We have gathered new and gently used purses for the mothers housed at the Homeward NYC Shelter, and filled them with small beauty and hygiene products to be given to the women for Mothers’ Day
Christmas Donations for Children in the Shelter Program
For many years at Christmastide, we have collected donations to purchase needed items for the residents of the Homeward NYC shelter on the Upper West Side. Almost everyone in the parish participates in this collection and we know how important it is for the residents we serve to be remembered and loved at this time of year.
The Leopards: Helping Parishioners Help Each Other
Helping Parishioners Help Each Other. “Leopards” was the nickname our patron, Saint Ignatius, gave to the cohort of Roman Soldiers who accompanied him on his journey from Antioch to Rome to face the lions in the Colosseum. Our Leopards are a group parishoners who help fellow parishioners who may be in need of some assistance or companionship. Grocery shopping for the temporarily homebound, dog-walking, or accompanying someone to the doctor or to church aresome of the simple, useful, and practical ways we can care for one another within the Saint Ignatius community. If you would like to help, please speak to Lucy Kuemmerle or Deacon Paul about becoming a Leopard.
NYC Pride Parade
For many years Saint Ignatius has participated in the NYC Pride Parade each June. The parish has a long history of support for and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in New York and we were in the forefront of caring for those who fell and died during the height of the AIDS crisis.