A Place of Hope & Hospitality

The Ladle and the Hearth is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that was founded in 2005 to help the growing number of needy residents in the Ambridge area.

The Ladle and the Hearth offers a hot meal and fellowship to anyone, everyone who attends; over its years of operation, a sense of community and belonging has developed. There is no means test for participation. Every Monday afternoon, a hot meal is served to approximately 75 to 100 hungry people. Our guests include the elderly, young adults, and families with children. Many of our guests are unemployed, homeless, lonely, and economically unstable.

Although the hot meal is the primary attraction, The Ladle and the Hearth is much more than a traditional soup kitchen. We offer a food pantry and provide bus passes, food gift cards, and emergency lodging as well as utility assistance to individuals with special circumstances.

The backbone of The Ladle and the Hearth is the volunteer teams that purchase the food, prepare the meals, and serve our guests week in and week out. We are blessed with 23 local churches/synagogues/organizations that provide the human support network for this mission. Some of these teams serve one time per year, while others serve as many as four times each year. Our Board member and scheduler, Kent Schwarz, rotates the volunteer teams such that a different volunteer group serves each week.