We’re excited to spotlight Hands On Hunger’s pantry: Catholic Shrine Of Immaculate Conception. Through its Sandwich Ministry, the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is working to address food insecurity by providing meals to individuals experiencing homelessness and families facing financial hardship. As a Hands On Hunger pantry partner, the Catholic Shrine of Immaculate Conception aims to expand volunteer engagement, strengthen community connections, and increase awareness of its mission to serve neighbors in need. Over the next two years, the organization hopes to bring more volunteers into its work, helping provide food and support to more individuals and families across Atlanta.
Learn more about the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and how its Sandwich Ministry is making a difference in our community.
What's the history of your organization? How and why did it get started?
St. Francis Table, The Catholic shrine of Immaculate Conception’s Outreach Program, was founded in 1982. St. Francis Table started as a soup kitchen, feeding those in need on the weekends, as there were little to no local feeding happening in the downtown area during the weekends. Franciscan Friars staffing the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception created the soup kitchen. A Originally serving a few hundred people, the kitchen now feeds 300 to over 400 people every Saturday morning with the help of weekly volunteers. As the need for food assistance increased, St. Francis Table opened the Sandwich Ministry and the Market Place.
How do volunteers support your mission? What impact do they have on your work? What is possible through the support of volunteers that would not be possible otherwise?
Volunteers have a direct and meaningful impact on our work. Their support allows us to prepare and distribute more sandwiches, reach more individuals experiencing food insecurity, and ensure that our ministry can operate consistently and effectively. Just as importantly, volunteers bring a spirit of dignity, compassion, and community to every interaction. The partnership with Hands On Atlanta has made it possible to engage a larger and more diverse network of volunteers than we could reach on our own. This increased volunteer participation expands our capacity beyond what our staff and core volunteers could accomplish alone. Because of their support, we are able to serve more people, more consistently, while creating opportunities for community members to participate personally in our mission of feeding and caring for our neighbors.
What community problem is your organization trying to solve? Can you tell us more about the issue?
St. Francis Table works to address food insecurity and hunger in our community. Many individuals and families struggle to afford nutritious food while also meeting basic needs such as housing, utilities, and healthcare. Through our soup kitchen, we provide hot, nourishing meals to neighbors in need. Our Sandwich Ministry extends our reach by providing meals that can be taken with individuals and shared with others experiencing hunger. Our Community Market provides groceries and essential food items, giving families greater choice and helping stretch limited resources. Together, these programs provide immediate food assistance while treating every person with dignity, compassion, and respect.
Can you share some impact stats or comments about the work being done by your organization? For example, how many meals/families/individuals do you serve monthly?
Our Sandwich Ministry Feeds around 200 people daily, which is around a 1000 people a week. Our Market place feeds around 30 different low income families a week. Our Soup kitchen has recently seen an increase in weekly feedings, feeding around 300 to 400 people a week.
What kind of programming do you offer the community?
Through our partnership with Hands On Atlanta, St. Francis Table currently offers volunteer opportunities focused exclusively on our Sandwich Ministry. Opportunities are posted Tuesday through Thursday, our busiest service days, when additional volunteer support is especially valuable. During service, volunteers assemble deli or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and distribute them along with brewed coffee, a prepared snack bag containing a salty and sweet treat, and a bottle of water. These recurring opportunities allow individuals and groups to provide a welcoming and nourishing experience for our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Starting this summer, we plan to expand our volunteer offerings to include Saturday Soup Kitchen opportunities. This expansion will create additional ways for volunteers to engage with our mission and help us serve more neighbors in need.
Tell us about what it's like to serve with your organization. How many volunteers do you host every month?
Our maximum capacity for our sandwich ministry is 10 volunteers for each day and 30 volunteers for the week, with a total capacity of 120 volunteers for the month.
Tell us about how volunteers can jump in and get involved. How can they best support you?
Volunteers can sign up to volunteer by visiting the Hands on Atlanta volunteer portal, all of our postings will be available for the volunteers to see. Volunteers can alsolearn more about our ministry through our website; Catholicshrineatlanta.org. Through our website they can explore further details of each ministry.
The Catholic Shrine of Immaculate Conception