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Social Outreach Program
The Social Outreach Program at Saint Rita Parish puts the Corporal Works of Mercy into practice by giving the St. Rita parishioners the opportunity to help their neighbors in Alexandria. We serve breakfast and dinner at the Carpenter’s Shelter on the second Sunday of the month and provide receptionists at the front desk. In addition, we similarly serve a lasagna dinner at Christ House, the only soup kitchen in the City, on the fourth Sunday. Every four weeks we provide 20 bag lunches each day for that week to the Salvation Army for distribution. We also volunteer with ALIVE (ALexandrians InVolved Ecumenically) to pick up and deliver furniture on Saturdays, to assist with the Last Saturday Food Distribution Program, and to sort and stack food for their pantry. Saint Rita Parish also provides individuals and families with financial assistance for rent, utilities, and medical needs as well as information about other resources in the City. In order to do these things we need you to:
- Donate Store Bought Lasagnas
- Make Brownies
- Serve the Dinners
- Be a Receptionist
- The Bag Lunch Program
- Distribute Food
- Deliver Furniture
- Drivers to Deliver Food for ALIVE!
If you would like to help with any of these activities, please contact Susanne Arnold at 703-683-5138 or email susannearnold@verizon.net.
Details are below.
Donate store bought lasagnas for either Carpenter’s Shelter or for Christ House in response to a request from the coordinator. The lasagna should be brought to Carpenter’s Shelter by 5:30 p.m. or to Christ House by 4:15 on the assigned Sunday. You can expect to be asked to donate a lasgna every 3 or 4 months.
Brownie bakers make brownies for Carpenter’s shelter on the 2nd Sunday of the month and for Christ House on the 4th Sunday. You may use any recipe you choose, but please make a double batch. The brownies may be brought to Carpenter’s by 5:30 on Sunday and to Christ House by 4:30 pm. They should be labeled with the date they are to be served. The brownies may also be left in Saint Rita Church on the bench near the Office door after Mass. You would be asked to make brownies every 3 or 4 months.
Carpenter’s Shelter: Dinner Servers
Saint Rita Parish provides a meal of beef stew with carrots, potatoes, & onions; canned fruit; bread, brownies & ice tea. 5:30 -7 pm, 2nd Sunday of the month, about 3 times a year.
Christ House: Dinner Servers
Saint Rita Parish provides a meal of beef stew, salad, bread, brownies & ice tea.
Arrive at 4:15 pm
Procedure:
Wear gloves;
Put stew into communal pots and heat on stove or in oven.
Make ice tea, in large insulated cooler, put out front, place cups beside container; Put brownies on large tray; Put out plates for stew; Put bread on plates. Check tables for napkins & flatware, butter and condiments. Put glass of tea at each place. Tell person at entrance that you are ready to serve — approximately 5:15. Pass brownies during meal.
Serve second helpings of stew, salad, & bread at window. As guests finish eating, prepare tables for second sitting.
Clean up: Wash dishes and utensils in automatic dish-washer — get instructions from staff. Wipe down counters and leave kitchen neat. Turn out lights.
Receptionist at Carpenter’s Shelter
On the second Sunday of each month, we cover the front desk in 4 hour shifts, thus freeing the staff to attend to the needs of the residents. The work is very easy but vital to the operation of the shelter. Time slots: 9 am to 1 pm; 1 to 5; 5 to 9; and 9 to 12 (Often the receptionist goes home before 11.)
Saint Rita’s has been a part of this program for 18 years. At present, we join with four other religious congregations: Emmanuel Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church; The Salvation Army; Fairlington and Washington St. Methodist Churches; and the Episcopal Church of Saint Andrew and Saint Margaret. Each day the Salvation Army distributes 20 lunches to those in need.
A volunteer make ten lunches for one of the days during the week assigned to Saint Rita Parish. The basic contents are: a meat & cheese sandwich; a piece of fruit, cookies, chips, & napkin. Other items may be added. Each day five lunches are made for children and include a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (no crusts!). Note that an individual volunteer will only have to make the lunches every 10th week — about five times a year, i.e. a total of 50 lunches. (The cost of each lunch varies with its contents.)
The Program Coordinator (PC) recruits new volunteers and assigns them to a particular day. Schedules are mailed out to all volunteers every six months - after they are received from The Old Presbyterian Meeting House. The PC calls the coordinators who call the lunch makers to remind them of their turn; assigns the volunteer to make the lunches for children or for adults; and makes arrangements to get the lunches and take them to the Salvation Army. The PC makes sure that a substitute is found when a regular is unavailable. She keeps in contact with Betty Waite at the Salvation Army and notifies participants of any change in the schedule.
ALIVE! Last Saturday Food Distribution Program
Volunteers unload the food truck on Friday 6:30 pm -7:30; and on Saturday 9 am: unload the produce truck, hand out the food, and help people carry the bags to their transportation. Older children & teenagers OK. Cora Kelly Rec Center (3600 Commonwealth Ave); Church of the Resurrection (2280 N. Beauregard Street); or Ladray Senior Residence (300 Wythe Street). At Cora Kelly volunteers also needed Friday night to unload the food truck.
Organizing ALIVE! Food Pantry: Throughout the holiday season, ALIVE! will receive generous food donations from groups, individuals, congregations, and special events. Volunteers are needed to help sort this food and stack in the ALIVE! food pantry. Food, friends and music make this volunteer effort a party. Good for Saint Rita kids & teens to get together to help ALIVE! and have fun!
Volunteer to pick up and deliver donated furniture on Saturday morning from 8-12. Saint Rita Parish is assigned two Saturdays a year, but volunteers are often needed on other Saturdays.
Drivers to Deliver Food for ALIVE!
Deliver food from ALIVE!’s Family Emergency Office on a week day from 12 - to maybe 3 pm on a regular schedule (once a month?, once a week?) or occasionally as a substitute. Will have to carry bags of food from pantry to car and from car to recipients’ homes — maybe upstairs.
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