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Day 6 Part 1: Ember and Forge

After a transformative week of service, fostering community relationships and reconnecting with our neighbors, the group wanted to finish off our last full day together by learning more about the businesses that have sprouted in downtown Erie. And what better way to do this other than over some great coffee? The group headed to Ember and Forge located at 401 State Street at 8am to sip on a wide variety of coffee options, to engage in conversation with each other and members of the community and to meet with the brave and wondrous women who started this business, Hannah Kirby. Hannah received her Mechanical Engineering degree from Gannon University and later got her MBA. Upon graduating school, she took on a job at a manufacturing company in Erie, PA for 10 years. However, she knew that there was something missing in her life and she wanted to find something else to to do, to give back to her community in a different way, and have the opportunity to be part of transforming Erie and con
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Day 5: Thursday March 7th

The group's day started well before your average robin as 7 zombies walked in single file to silently load themselves into our cargo van at 5:15 am.  The destination was a graveyard containing a large body of water covered in ice, heavy grey mist, and a faint outline of trees.  The perfect place for a zombie's sunrise reflection.  Kicking it off, the group moved through an intense progression of mindfulness, breathing, and beautification.  The process led to a powerful realization, that watching a sunrise while it snowing is like expecting a baboon to make a cocoon.  Nevertheless, we deepened our meditation, the sun initiated its levitation, slowly revealing the mystic landscape of the bayfront. With the light of day to guide us, we made another great stop at Perry's monument where we enjoyed the mystic bayfront landscape from another angle.  Surprisingly, at this location and this early in the morning, we ran into several students from New York City, Pittsburgh, and Cali

Day 4: ASH WEDNESDAY

     The day started early for about half the group. A group of intrepid students braved the early morning bitter chill for a brisk walk to St. Peter's Cathedral for morning mass. After a scintillating wake-up service, they trudged wearily back for an eclectic breakfast to start the day.      The morning's project consisted of the organization of the Little Free Library's book stock. This project lasted several hours in the morning and stimulated the students interest in books by an overexposure to large quantities. After shifting the vast piles of various books, the students felt sufficiently hungry enough to go back to the St. Joseph house and dive into an lunch of assorted and widely varied foods.      Following this invigorating episode, the group as a whole felt it necessary to take a little repose. Sadly, at this time Caroline felt in necessary to retire to her home due to some personal health issues. After drying their tears, the rest of the party regrouped to pre

DAY 3!

After an awesome day of service yesterday, the group arose anxious to do more, to give more. Our leaders surprised us today! We spent the day getting to know our group together by being tourists in our Erie! We started our day with a scenic drive to the one and only Presque Isle! The group braved the cold and walked on the snow covered beach while engaging with each other and taking in the calm of the natural environment we are blessed to have in this amazing city. Afterwards, we headed to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) and actively participated in some of the hands-on games they had as we toured the center. We loved learning outside of the classroom and getting to know more about the animals and the environment that of Erie. And of course we had to make it up to the tower too! It was very cold at that point and the group was getting hungry after a jam-packed community building day! We headed over to Donatos! We played cards and puzzles as we anxiously awaited for our piz

Day 2 Monday, March 4th 2019

DAY 2! After a restful night of sleep, all 8 of us arose bright and early Monday morning to start our first day of work! We did some deconstruction work on a project for the Our West Bayfront Organization. It was cold and hard, but we had a lot of fun and certainly made the best of it!  Following our morning/afternoon of hard labor, we came home to start preparing for our dinner with the mayor. We were honored that he agreed to come have a meal with us and were so excited to host him. Caroline set up different "cooking stations for us each to work at so we all had our own duties and responsibilities! We had a blast spending time together and making an excellent meal. It was really awesome to learn so much from each other about the ways we cook and the different strategies we each had for recipes and cooking! Before the mayor arrived, Maddie and Katie posted large signs around the room that said "What we want to see change in Erie", "What we love about E

Day 1 Sunday, March 3rd

After settling in, the group took a trip up to the Bicentennial Tower. Since today was the first Sunday of the month, it was free! Maddie read a diversity dialogue and then afterwards the group had time to read the plaques and come back together as a group to share one new interesting thing they read about Erie, Pa. It was a great way to start our week by seeing the beauty that our city has to offer! Our main "service project" for day one was helping to serve dinner at Sunday supper! We served dinner and at dinner with people at First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant! Heba and Ashlyn are serving food at the main line!  Tim learns some martial arts from a new friend he met at the Sunday supper!  Heba engages in conversation while sharing a meal with a local neighbor! Caroline, Claire, and Heba show their bright smiles as we begin to serve the meal.  Katie wipes down the tables after the meal while Heba continues her conversation wi