This Community Gem isn't a physical place to walk into, but a site that can let you experience family friendly events all over the area.

"I'm not from Erie and I was always surprised by the people here who said, there's nothing to do," said Murphy. "And I really wanted to find a way to showcase Erie and promote its local businesses and show how much there is to do."

Kara Murphy has made that her passion, she is the publisher of Macaroni Kid Erie.

It's a national website with people in local communities, working to provide information on area activities for every month and most times, every day of the year.

"I saw the need back when I first had kids. I was a new mom, I was staying at home all the time and was like I couldn't ever find anything to do," said Murphy. "And as a mom you gotta fill those hours, and I wanted to connect with new moms too so it was a real struggle."

And she's helped to change that, the former Erie Times News reporter used her contacts and made others to gather and upload events for families all across the region.

Murphy does it right from her home.

"I also have a huge spreadsheet of calendars in town that I check every month to add to our website and we try to get 200 to 300 events listed every month," said Murphy. 

Macaroni Kid has about 400 publishers across the country.

While Kara takes care of the Erie site, she is also the managing editor for the company. The company is one of the largest parenting publishing platforms in the U.S.

It's really been a fascinating journey for me, making it from Erie where I started it," said Murphy. "And now we're reaching millions of families every month."

There's way for people and organizations to post events to the website.

Organizers can go to Erie.Macaronikid.com, click on events, submit an event, then fill out all the information, scroll down and click the blue button to complete the form. 

While there is a big emphasis on free events, there's one's for a fee also listed.

Along with parenting articles and guides for families, making it a Community Gem.

"I really want to help promote Erie in my own little way, I think it's such a special community and such an amazing place to live," said Murphy. "I choose to live here and I love Erie and I hope that Macaroni Kid in its own little way is helping other people feel the same way." 

Kara also sends out a monthly news letter with goings-on out to her nearly 7,000 subscribers.

She is looking for people to start Macaroni Kid website in surrounding areas, like Warren, Meadville and Chautauqua County.

So, that families there will be able to reap the benefits of weekly events.