Philly Local Members Volunteer at Camden's Cathedral Kitchen

Twice this past June, a group of Philly Local members volunteered at Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, New Jersey. The nonprofit organization is the largest emergency food provider in Camden and serves more than 100,000 meals per year. Three-hour volunteer shifts include setting tables for diners, prepping takeaway meals and groceries bags, and serving coffee. Cathedral Kitchen’s mission is to help people out of food insecurity and champion their pursuit of stability and prosperity.

Cathedral Kitchen was well known to the South Jersey native Erin Coleman, a Philly local broadcast member and an Emmy and Murrow Award-winning anchor at NBC10.

“It wasn’t until Terry Ruggles, a former NBC10 journalist and SAG-AFTRA member, reached out to get me involved that I’d actually visited the Cathedral Kitchen,” she said. “The first time I volunteered, I was hooked!”

Coleman has since joined the board in 2022 and emcees the graduation of their Culinary Arts Training Program. Students in the program have overcome tremendous obstacles such as homelessness and incarceration.

“Working with Cathedral Kitchen has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me. When you spend time volunteering, you see the need, and you see the impact this organization is having in the Camden community and beyond. Cathedral Kitchen is truly changing lives through food, not only feeding the hungry, but also giving vital supportive services to those who need it and job training to those who want it. Using my platform to raise awareness about the growing number of people in our region dealing with food insecurity is just a small way for someone like myself who has been blessed with so much to give back. Everyone can do a little something to make a big difference.”

Top photo: From left, Local Board member Denyse Ellington, Local Board member Greg Pronko, Erin Coleman, Philly Local Business Rep Ryan Stapleton, Alroy Mellor, Marko Christie.