The Eclipse Project: Helping Harrisburg's Homeless

02/28/2026

Check in Friday has passed.
Jerry ✔️
Sue serving ✔️
Ashley kitchen ✔️
Savanna ✖️
Bueller? Bueller?

02/25/2026

Some of the items we served our differently sheltered friends on Sunday included:
Shakshuka from Alex with garlic butter Naan and cheesy breadsticks
Thanksgiving casserole
Broken pierogi
Roy's baked potatoes and sweet potatoes
Pork ramen with vegetables
Reuben casserole
Chicken alfredo pasta with broccoli
Trish and Mike's tuna cakes with lemon dill aioli
Nacho tots
Homemade beef vegetable soup
Homemade chicken corn soup
Collard greens with smoked ham
Antipasto
Coleslaw
Sandwiches
Sweets and pastries
Coffee and lemonade
Some other things I can't remember because I'm getting old.

Thank you, Bethany Church of the Nazarene, Country Gourmet at the Market, Panera, those who picked up food donations, those who donated items, and my volunteers this week: Sandi, Lori, Ally, Sam, Jerry, Bob, Megan, Chelsea, Kelly, Tammy, Roy, Trish, and Carol. Who did I forget? Remember, I'm getting old.

I was contacted by one of our formerly differently sheltered friends. She had taken a gentleman under her wing whose son she knows, who had been left homeless after a fire on Sunday morning. She reached out and, in her usual humble way, asked if we had anything we could help him with and, if not, do I know of any resources? I said, Please send him to me! He came to the church and we were able to give him a new winter coat and some freshly donated boots and some toiletries. We will be keeping our eyes open for other items for him as soon as I get a response about his sizes and his needs.

We were able to send food boxes to the camp for those who are unable to make the walk to see us where we serve. It's always a pleasure to accommodate those who are under the weather or have physical restrictions.

I had the extreme pleasure of hugging a gentleman I haven't seen since we served a couple years ago. He's now housed but I felt the need to squeeze him. I give pretty good squeezes. I asked him if we could come by and bring him some food and he let us! I think I must have hugged him three times when I saw him. We took him a box of goodies and some hot food and drinks but what I really wanted was the hugs! He hugged everyone of my volunteers even if he'd never met them before. He and I were both brought to tears as we stood in the rain squeezing each other.

Our last stop came from a request we had from one of our friends who was in the hospital for 4 days recently. They asked if we had anything left over and we certainly did. We fixed them a couple boxes of food and gave them a herd of cupcakes.

We were blessed to have both of our canopies with us when we served at the CCC. We only had one up last weekend and stuff got kind of damp in the rain. We got both up this weekend and it covered all of our tables but we didn't take into account the fact that there's a space between the two canopies where the water runs down like a waterfall onto the table. No food was harmed in the waterfall. We managed to put a catering pan in that spot to collect the rainwater. Couple of us did get a stream of water down our backs more than once. At least I remembered to change my shoes this week. Last week, I made a bad decision and my feet were squishy. Spring is coming!

One of our new volunteers, Kelly, served so hard in his serving stance that he busted out of both his shoes like The Hulk. See photos.

Chelsea got me a shirt to commemorate the deescalation of shenanigans last weekend. See photo.

Get your orders in for hoodies and t-shirts! Once I have a couple more orders, I'm going to put our order in to the printer. See previous post.

02/23/2026

I have orders for three hoodies so far. I'd like to get a few more before I place the order with our shirt girl. Please share the original post to get the word out! These are comfy, thick, warm hoodies, and I find them to be true to size.

02/18/2026

We had more friends show up today than in the past few weeks! Thank you, mother nature! Even though it rained at our second stop, we had the canopy and it was much nicer weather-wise this week than it has been in some time. Last week? 16°. I think it was almost 50° Sunday. So happy to see so many!

This Sunday's meal:
Saucy chicken livers with mushrooms and rice
Rachel and Safa's sausage and pepper pasta.
Roy's pasta with Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and crispy chicken
Buffalo Chicken dip mac and cheese
Meatball Alfredo pasta
Trish and Mike's chili
Chicken corn soup
Meatball parmigiana subs
Little smokies and meatballs
Heart-Shaped cookies
Chocolate covered strawberries
Tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches
Naan with seasoned garlic butter
Cupid crunch salad
A bunch of other things I forgot.

Thank you, Country Gourmet at the Market and Bob for picking up, Panera and Cecily for picking up, Bethany Church of the Nazarene for your space, and everyone who donated food and other items this week. We even received a couple of casseroles last minute for next week and some apple brownies for ourselves! They were delicious, Lexi. And thank you to Trish and Mike who took all of our clothing donations to sort!

We were joined by Hands and Feet Ministry and Dayspring Ministry. ❤️

This weekend's volunteers, God bless them - Jerry, Donna, Trish, Bob, Carol, Abby, Taylor, Kelly, Tammy, and Danielle. Several new volunteers this week and some of our friends chose shenanigans. It took a minute but we were able to de-escalate the situation in the end and move people along in opposite directions.

Check our previous post for merch! We don't have any grants or government funding so we rely completely on donations from big-hearted people to keep doing what we do and this is another way to enable us to pay for food and supplies every week. Some weeks, I can get by on $40 and some weeks it costs me over $150 for the meal, depending on what we have to purchase.

Thank you to Bob for dropping off a bag of catered boxed lunches. I drove down to Cameron and Market on Thursday and handed them all out in about 5 minutes.

Sunday is a long day but we do be having fun. Or, at least, it's never boring. If anyone wishes to volunteer, we meet at the address in our profile picture every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. to prepare food and load up the van with essentials. We leave at 2:00 and serve at two locations starting at 2:30 and ending at about 5:00. We then return to the church to unload and clean up. This weekend I got home at 7:30. All you need to do is let me know on a Friday if you're coming that Sunday.

1. We do not take their photos. We believe in dignity and privacy. There's always the odd occasion where someone asks to be in a picture and we love that! I just believe that their business is their business and that's okay!

2. We do not eat their food. The food, and the money to purchase food, is donated for our differently sheltered friends. Not for us. Only after everyone is served at both locations, I will make an announcement that volunteers are welcome to make a plate to taste the food if they wish. It is a long day and I don't want anybody starving, but it's important to me that our friends eat first.

3. I ask that language and conversation subject matter be appropriate for our surroundings. We do meet in a church and we want to be a positive example to our friends.

4. We don't talk politics.

5. If one of our differently sheltered friends asks for another box of food or another helping of something, yes. You want to take a box for your neighbor or your friend? Yes. You want a second box for yourself? Yes. You want food for your dog? Yes. We don't care who it's for, just that it's eaten and enjoyed. We lay out the pans of food and they go through the line and tell us what they want. They don't get food they don't like, can't eat, are allergic to, or don't want so hopefully very little is wasted. You're not sure if you're going to like something? Take a spoonful of it and try it. You don't eat pork? Tell us and we will make sure to accommodate you. They may not be offered many opportunities to make a decision so it's important we give them that.

Feel free to share our posts!

02/16/2026

WE HAVE MERCH.

For now, we have hoodies and t-shirts available for order. We may add more things later depending on what she can make for us. Stay tuned!

HOODIES:
S, M, L - $50
XL - $55
XXL - $60
###L - $65

T-SHIRTS:
S, M, L, XL - $30

When ordering, please don't forget to include whether you want a hoodie or a t-shirt and the size you need.

The hoodie material is thick and warm, half cotton half polyester.

Our logo is on the back, including my red Mitsubishi Eclipse, Luigi, who started this whole thing with me. My friend who sold me the car named it Luigi because the first three letters on the license plate are LGY and I couldn't see calling it loogie...but I digress...

Payment is required when ordering. We take Venmo, PayPal, cash or check.

Cash payment can be made in person any Sunday between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at the address in our profile picture. That way you can stop by and say hey and see what we do!

Checks should be made out to The Eclipse Project and can be mailed to me.

Michon Zalewski
5955a Linglestown Road
Harrisburg PA 17112

If I see you out in public wearing one of our hoodies, it entitles you to a free hug lasting at least 20 seconds because those are the good ones, but only if you like hugs. I don't want you to come at me. I will introduce myself. I will ask if you're a hugger. There will be a warning. If you're not a hugger, I will make a heart shape with my fingers at you from a distance. We'll work something out. 👋🏽🤜🏽🤛🏽🫶🏽

100% of the profits will go to support our outreach, to fill bellies and provide necessities and make life a little easier for our community of differently sheltered friends. We will contact you when they are ready and you can pick up at Bethany Church of the Nazarene

Please share our post!❤️

02/14/2026

Hey, folks. Please remember we are not taking clothing at this time UNLESS you have contacted me ahead of time to let me know what you would be bringing. There are specific things that we would take like under clothes and socks and hoodies or if we have special requests from the guys at the halfway house. We definitely only have the room to accept seasonal clothing. There were a bunch of bags of clothes at the church today and on top of them was a bathing suit. I love your generous heart but we have to pass things on elsewhere that aren't appropriate for the current season. We just don't have room for them. We do have a sign posted that no clothing is being accepted at this time because we just have too much. If you have any questions, please contact me through Messenger. Thanks!
Thank you for the coffee cups and the pillows and blankets!

02/13/2026

Let us make your romantic dinner effortless and unforgettable. This Friday & Saturday, we're featuring two incredible specials crafted with love!

🍝 Valentine's Beef Ragu:
Tender chuck roast slow-braised for eight hours in a rich Cabernet Sauvignon and crushed tomato reduction, finished with balsamic and butter over golden egg noodles. Pure comfort, pure flavor!

🍰 Sweetheart Bread Pudding:
Indulge in this delightful bread pudding, made w/ sweet & tart raspberries & white chocolate as a decadent dessert to share with your sweetheart (or keep it all to yourself, we won't tell!).

Stop by the West Shore Farmer's Market this weekend to pick up your ready-to-heat Valentine's feast! Limited quantities available, so come early!

📍 West Shore Farmer's Market
🗓️ Friday: 8am-6pm | Saturday: 8am-2pm

02/13/2026

It's Fri-yay! Check in, volunteers! It's supposed to be a balmy 44° this Sunday, way better than the 16° it was last Sunday. Come on, spring! I'm tired of stuffing hand warmers down my scarf and in my pockets.

We mostly need people to help serve and clean up. Serving is from 2:30 until about 5:00 and then we return to the church to unload and clean up. We will take you the whole day from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., don't get me wrong. But if you can only come for a portion, that's where we need help.

Sue is still caring for her husband after his surgery.

Jerry only ever let's me know when he's not coming because he's a machine and he's with me pretty much 48 Sundays out of the year.

Roy is coming at 1:00 for an hour to bring a pasta dish and wash our pots and pans and we LOVE that about him.

We got Bob, Carol, and Trish in the kitchen Sunday.

(Donna and possibly Gary will be with me Saturday in the kitchen but we don't need much more help that day.)

02/12/2026