Many of Fairfax County’s poorest enjoy a meal every night of the year thanks to the efforts of five Good Shepherd Hot Meals teams and teams from 20 other local churches. The program is under the sponsorship of Fairfax Area Christian Emergency and Transitions Services (FACETS). Hot Meals teams serve 80 to 120 meals each night. Recipients include families for which the County is providing temporary shelter in some of the older hotels along Route 50 as well as individuals some of whom live year around in the woods along Route 50.
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The five Good Shepherd teams set their own menus, buy the ingredients, cook in the Good Shepherd kitchen, and deliver in their own vehicles or in a van provided by FACETS. More than 80 members of Good Shepherd participate on one or more teams. All together Good Shepherds Hot Meals teams are responsible for 32 nights each year. Good Shepherd is one of the only participating churches that has multiple teams.
In recent years many of the members of the confirmation class have assisted. A number of Good Shepherd youth have earned service credit being part of a Hot Meals team. Many of the families that cook or deliver bring their younger children providing them an opportunity to learn first hand the value of Christian outreach. If you would like to learn more about Good Shepherd’s Hot Meals programs contact Charley Hoffman (Hoffman.charley@gmail.com, 703 425-9236). This is only one of the many Outreach efforts at Good Shepherd. If you would like to learn about some of the others contact Gail Calabrese (gailcalabrese@verizon.net) or Sharon Holcombe (shh5508@cox.net). You can learn more about FACETS at www.facetscares.org.
