ALEXANDRIA, VA — The food pantry associated with Catholic Charities gave refugee and immigrant families a helping hand with their Thanksgiving meals while ensuring the food was culturally appropriate.
The Alexandria Catholic Charities Food Pantry, part of the St. Lucy Food Project, distributed Thanksgiving chickens or turkeys as part of meal kits to 180 families over the weekend. The families served include refugees and immigrants working with Catholic Charities through the resettlement program.
Clients at the drive-thru event have received the pantry’s food assistance at least once and attended its food distribution in October. The food pantry typically sees an increase in food assistance needs during the holiday season.
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“Some of them need a little bit more support during these times, especially with everything, all the festivities going on,” Maria Rodriguez, manager of the Alexandria food pantry, told Patch. “So it’s understandable. So there’s definitely a little bit more of an increase during these times.
The food pantry was previously relocated to the West End from Christ Church in Old Town, an Episcopal church where daily meals are still served to people in need. While the food pantry used to distribute Thanksgiving meals through regular food pickups on a monthly basis, it decided to do a drive-thru event this year.
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“We had so many volunteers that that came out and made it such an easy process,” said Rodriguez. “We served 180 clients, and it really was super organized, and they were just ready to help. And our clients really did enjoy the experience, because usually it’s a small pantry, so their waiting time varies. But this was very in and out very quick.”
The Thanksgiving meal kits included the option of chicken or turkey. A significant number of the Thanksgiving birds distributed were halal, by request of the families. According to Rodriguez, the meal kits also include produce and items like potatoes, cabbage and onions, carrots and other stable items.
“We wanted to make sure that it’s something that they’re not only going to use, but they’re also going to enjoy for this season,” said Rodriguez.
Over 100 volunteers contributed to the drive-thru distribution effort to feed the 180 families. Lori Sikra, assistant program director at the St. Lucy Food Project, said volunteers started at 7 a.m. to pack the bags, and it required planning to keep the chickens and turkeys frozen. Sikra credits Rodriguez with helping to secure donations that allowed the food pantry to pre-purchase food from various grocery stores.
While the need for food assistance goes up during the holiday season, so do contributions. Rodriguez says more people will come in to make donations during the holiday season.
“There is a beautiful level of generosity and spirit that happens around the Christmas season,” added Sikra. “Not only at our pantry, but throughout all of Catholic Charities, with gift card donations that are an opportunity for a lot of parishioners to participate in just this beautiful message of giving that then can extend itself to all of our other ministries.”
Catholic Charities’ St. Lucy Food Project has three food pantry locations — in Alexandria, Sterling and Front Royal. It also runs a Manassas storage warehouse, which supplies the three food pantries and 50 other food pantry sites. According to the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, the St. Lucy Food Project distributed over 2.2 million pounds of food in 2023.
“The Manassas warehouse itself brings in thousands of pounds of food each year through individual and parish donors and the relationships of community, relationships with the grocery stores and food banks around the area to sprinkle all that around to all of our 21 counties and seven cities that we support,” said Sikra.
Rodriguez says the food pantries aren’t just distributing food.
“Sometimes they need someone to listen to them, just a helping hand, a smile,” said Rodriguez. “And so we focus on as much as that as we do on the food aspect. Our clients are very satisfied and they always tell us you guys are different from other food pantries because of the experience and the joy that we try to serve them with each time they come.”
The Catholic Charities’ food pantries will distribute food up to Dec. 22 before taking a winter break from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2. Christ Church in Old Town will continue to serve food daily, including on holidays.
Other faith-based organizations are stepping up to assist families in need for the Thanksgiving holiday. Islamic Relief USA, a charitable organization headquartered in Alexandria, will distribute 360 turkeys to underserved residents on Thursday in Falls Church.
Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.
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