Honor their labor
We arrive with gratitude for the staff and volunteers who keep the kitchen open and ready for the community.
Monthly food seva in Elmira, New York
Feed the Homeless Seva
Join the Bhakti Marga America volunteer team supporting Elmira Community Kitchen, a Catholic Charities project serving neighbors experiencing homelessness, hardship, and food insecurity.
Meeting point
Paranitya Narasimha Ashram, Elmira
When
First Tuesday of every month, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Our role
Supporting Elmira Community Kitchen
Love in action
A simple meal can become a sacred offering.
Seva means selfless service. Every month since September 2025, devotees and friends from Bhakti Marga America and Paranitya Narasimha Temple have volunteered with Elmira Community Kitchen , a Catholic Charities project serving neighbors experiencing homelessness, hardship, and food insecurity.
Our volunteers serve alongside local churches, faith communities, organizations, and other members of the Elmira community.
Volunteers may help prepare and serve meals, welcome guests, clean up, and assist wherever needed. No special experience is required—only steady hands, a kind heart, and a willingness to serve.
20,000+
meals served by Elmira Community Kitchen in 2019
200+
monthly volunteers from local faith groups and organizations
In support of Catholic Charities Chemung/Schuyler
Supporting the work already happening
Catholic Charities has been faithfully serving Elmira neighbors for decades.
The Elmira Community Kitchen first opened its doors in 1981. Since then, Catholic Charities Chemung/Schuyler, together with local faith communities, organizations, and volunteers, has continued the steady work of preparing meals, welcoming guests, and caring for people in vulnerable moments.
Bhakti Marga America and Paranitya Narasimha Temple are honored to support these efforts. Our monthly seva is one way to stand beside the people who have been carrying out this service with dedication, compassion, and consistency.
Strengthen the circle
Each seva day adds willing hands to an existing network of care serving families, seniors, and neighbors in need.
Serve with humility
Our role is to help, listen, and contribute wherever support is most useful that day.
How the day flows
Come ready to serve with care, cleanliness, and presence.
Arrive and prepare
Check in with the seva lead, receive your station, and help set up food, tables, supplies, and the welcoming space.
Serve the guests
Offer each plate with respect. The meal matters, and so does the way each person is greeted and seen.
Clean and close
Help restore the kitchen and dining room, then close the seva together in gratitude.
Seva gallery
Moments from the monthly offering.
Join our monthly seva
Serve with us on the first Tuesday of every month.
We gather at Paranitya Narasimha Ashram from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. before serving together in support of Elmira Community Kitchen . New volunteers are always welcome—come ready to help, connect, and offer your time in service.
Meeting point:
Paranitya Narasimha Ashram
First Tuesday of every month · 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Paranitya Narasimha Ashram
First Tuesday of every month · 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Apply for seva
Tell us how you would like to serve.
Complete the form and the seva coordinator will follow up with upcoming monthly dates, arrival details, and any kitchen requirements.
- Open to devotees, friends, families, and first-time volunteers.
- Monthly participation is welcome, but one-time help is also meaningful.
- Volunteers should be kind, punctual, flexible, and comfortable serving all guests with respect.
Community Kitchen details are based on Catholic Charities Chemung/Schuyler public program information .
