Alexandria's Christ House Meets Increasing Demand For Meals Through Volunteers

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Meals served at the food pantry at Christ House in Old Town Alexandria increased in 2025, according to a report from the Arlington diocese. But the charitable effort has provided consistency for guests by not missing an evening meal service for well over 40 years.

The Diocese of Arlington's annual report indicates 25,677 meals were served at Christ House in 2025, up about 25 percent from the previous year. John Croft, the director of Christ House, told Patch that an average 60 guests are coming in for meals, along with about 14 men served in Christ House's transitional housing.

The Metro-accessible soup kitchen has become a well-known resource for reliable meals for the homeless. As one of the Catholic Charities' initiatives in Northern Virginia, Christ House has been a resource for the homeless for more than 50 years. Despite Old Town Alexandria being a wealthy community overall, Croft says there is a considerable need in the area, and guests may need a meal for a variety of reasons.

"Some of them are actually, literally homeless," said Croft. "They live outside in tents. They live in the local Alexandria neighborhoods. Some of them are long term homeless folks. They do not want to be in a shelter. They've chosen to live that way. They have no resources or means. Then there's a group of them that actually live in the shelters...Some of them actually have a place to live, but they run out of money at the end of the month, especially folks who are on food stamps."

Christ House was established in 1973 as a homeless shelter, and it later added a soup kitchen to serve evening meals. What was originally a homeless shelter is now transitional housing, providing stability for up to 14 men working full-time jobs to allow them to prepare for independent housing. The charity also runs a thrift shop that supports guests in need, distributes hygiene kits, sleeping bags and other essential items and provides a chapel for guests who want to use it.

"We have volunteers, as well as our full-time staff, just to go out and visit and socialize," said Croft. "We know all their names, or most of the names of someone once they're here for a couple times and go out and just see how they're doing, say hello, try to encourage them. And of course, we're a Catholic ministry, so they'll often ask us to pray for them."

Christ House has not missed an evening meal in 47 years, according to Croft. That's thanks to hundreds of volunteers who step up to provide meals, according to Croft. There are about 53 volunteer groups currently taking shifts, mostly made up of members of different Catholic parishes, other Christian churches, businesses and nonprofits. The groups typically prepare the meals, drive it to Christ House, cook it and serve it, and clean up.

"These groups that prepare the meal, they prepare these meals with love," said Croft. "They make sure that there's a vegetable, protein, fruit, a side dish, a dessert, a bottle of water. Often they'll include the different seasons, they'll include some special cookies with seasonal themes. It's really wonderful. The folks who make the meal are adamant they want it to be a good service, a good meal for these folks."

The daily meal service starts in the evening, but Croft says people will sometimes line up in the mid-afternoon and come as late as midnight seeking food. The soup kitchen typically operates in a takeout format but offers a special dine-in meal for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Aside from getting a meal, some guests get a social benefit from interacting with other guests.

"For a lot of them, it's their social hour. They come. They know others who have been coming a long time. They socialize," said Croft. "A couple of years ago, we realized that that was what was happening, and that they were really connecting with each other, in addition to the meal, and we started doing a coffee service before the meal, where we make a giant pot of coffee and serve coffee for them while they're waiting."

Christ House staff and volunteers can sometimes determine why the need for meals is increasing. According to Croft, numbers often increase near the end of the month when food stamps run out. Numbers may also be higher on any given night when numerous families with children show up. However, Christ House has a "no questions asked" policy when it comes to collecting information on soup kitchen guests. The soup kitchen will never turn a guest away, no matter their struggles.

"You're not solving somebody's problem to get them out of homelessness, but you're solving their problem to get them through the next day," said Croft. "And that's a very tangible thing that people connect with — somebody suffering, and they have this need, and I can help them have a little bit of solace, going through the going through the night with a full stomach."

According to Croft, residents can help Christ House by signing up to volunteer, providing gift cards to food establishments not serving alcohol or cigarettes, donating water. Clothing donations for Christ House's clothing closet for the homeless also accepts lightly used clothing donations on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The charity particularly needs men's coats between sizes large and 2x.

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.