Serving the Community
Laundry Love
Free Laundry every 3rd Tuesday, 6:00-8:00 PM at Aroma Laundry.
Laundry Love is a national movement that began with a homeless gentleman in Ventura, CA named Eric, lovingly known as T-Bone. One day someone who wanted to help the homeless community asked him, “How can we come alongside your life in a way that would matter?” His response was honest and practical: “If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me like a human being.” This simple conversation 12 plus years ago has grown into what is now a national non-profit organization called Laundry Love. The program also serves those who live in shelters, motels, cars, garages, and on the street.
St. Athanasius opened a chapter of Laundry Love in April 2016 at Aroma Laundry, 1448 N Alvarado St., owned and operated by James Barnes. Dolores DeAngelis works as coordinator of volunteers and fundraising. Volunteers and funds come from St. Athanasius, the Echo Park United Methodist Church, Parkview Living, and the Greater Echo Park Community. Each chapter operates on its own schedule. Prior to the pandemic, our ministry served the community of Echo Park and beyond on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Volunteers arrived by 5:30 and usually finished by 9:00pm. During the pandemic, we have been providing vouchers for free washes.
If you would like to help LL with your donations and time. Please contact Bob Rumnock 323-842-2545.
Interfaith Relationships
The Episcopal Church values relationships with both leaders and members of other faith traditions. The Diocese of Los Angeles has a Program Group for Ecumenical and Interreligious Life. Father Frank is a member of that group. Especially at a time when people of other faiths are not always welcomed in our country, it is important for the church to actively reach out to support and embrace people. Oftentimes interfaith relationships are built through shared prophetic action. We work with CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice) and others on a variety of justice campaigns around immigration, labor, housing and LGBTQ issues. At St. A we take this very seriously and invite people to participate.
Food Bank
Each Friday a team of volunteers distributes food to more than 200 families each Friday morning. The food comes from various institutions in Los Angeles that collect food to distribute to places like our Food Bank, including LA Regional Food Bank, Food Forward, and others. The Food Bank’s coordinator is Carole Young.
Sacred Resistance
One of the core promises of our baptismal covenant is to “persevere” in resisting evil. We understand that as a call to stand in resistance to the systemic evils that oppress or marginalize any member of our human family. Resolution to become a Sanctuary Diocese was passed at the Diocesan Convention in December, 2016. In 2017 the people of St. A decided to offer St. A as a Sanctuary Parish working as a matter of faith to ensure the dignity and human rights of all people.
Thanksgiving Meal
Each year for the past quarter century St. A has served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to 1000 and 2000 people in the community of Echo Park on Thanksgiving Day. This effort is coordinated by our Food Bank, and gathers dozens of volunteers to prepare and serve the food, as well as to clean up and distribute leftovers. All are welcome to volunteer and/or simply come and enjoy the meal and sharing around the tables.
Social Justice
We consider social justice as a core piece of the Gospel. Therefore, we participate with many interfaith groups to struggle for a society characterized by justice and peace.