WASHINGTON (7News) — On Christmas morning, volunteers began arriving before sunrise at the Basilica in Northeast D.C. to pack meals for those in need.
This Christmas marked the 50th year that meals have been packed at the church and then delivered to homes in the DC area. The church’s full name is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The earliest arriving volunteers packed full Christmas turkey dinners, along with other items like ornaments and prayers cards, in bags. The bags were then packed in boxes, which were taken out to a long line of cars being driven by volunteers who then delivered the meals to people in D.C., Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and parts of Northern Virginia.
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In all, the Basilica says more than 2,000 meals were delivered to people in need. Valencia Camp, the church’s director of special events, says many requests come from senior citizens, but others who ask for the meals are younger.
“[We get requests from] seniors, parents with children, those who are unemployed – people who have lost their jobs recently, people who have lost their jobs long-term – people who are ill,” Camp said. “We have received calls from people this year who are desperately in need, who said to me in tears, ‘if I don’t receive a dinner from you, I’m not going to have anything to eat today.’ So we are really reaching those who are vulnerable in our society, those who are in need.”
For some volunteers, helping to either pack or deliver the meals is their most cherished Christmas tradition. Longtime volunteer Tom Savage of Woodbridge says helping get meals to people in need represents what Christmas is all about.
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“It’s not about sitting at home and opening presents. It’s not about how many people, how many relatives, can we visit,” Savage said. “It’s about giving back.”
The Basilica used to offer the meal on-site to anyone who wanted to come and sit down to eat it in the church’s cafeteria, but that stopped after the Covid pandemic began.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America. A spokesperson told 7News the Christmas Eve mass Wednesday night was standing room only and had higher attendance than any such mass since the pandemic.
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