Manahawkin Elks Give $2.5K Donation To Compassion Café

BEACH HAVEN, NJ — The Manahawkin Elks Lodge recently presented the Compassion Café with a $2,500 donation.

The Manahawkin Elks' donation was funded by a Gratitude Grant from the Elks National Foundation to the Compassion Café.

“I had the pleasure to present the check and have breakfast. I urge our members to visit the Compassion Café and support these young and wonderful adults and their support staff.,” Bruno Czerwonka, exalted ruler of the lodge, wrote on Facebook.

Erin Sharkey and her aunt Sue Sharkey opened Compassion Café in May to give adolescents and adults with disabilities more opportunities to expand their skillset once they graduate from school. The café is open seasonally during the spring and summer months.

Donations to the nonprofit not only cover the cost of food and other restaurant supplies, but also fund the payroll for the café's employees.

"Any purchasing of goods, t-shirts or coffee mugs—all of that goes straight back to getting what we need in order to pay our kids to have a work opportunity. We don't want to turn anybody away," Erin told Patch in March.

The nonprofit partners with local businesses that donate their spaces to the nonprofit in the morning. Barry's Do Me A Flavor has been serving as Compassion Café's first host location for the 2021 season.

The staff will celebrate the end of their first season on Thursday by serving free coffee from 7 to 11 a.m.

Compassion Café already has a host location lined up for spring 2022 at The Sea Shell Resort & Beach Club in Beach Haven. Click here to donate or to learn more about the nonprofit.

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