Thanksgiving is a time for remembering the virtue of generosity and a time to acknowledge gifts that have been received. Yet the interrelated web of giving and receiving can cause problems, especially when the wheels of bureaucracy begin spinning. Such is the case at Christ House, where the Alexandria Health Department told the operation to cease serving home-cooked meals last year after adopting federal standards under the Food and Drug Administration.
“The Health Department took action after a complaint,” said Deputy City Manager Michele Evans. “According to the FDA food code, which the city has adopted, the way the food has to be served can’t be coming from people’s homes.”
Since jettisoning home-cooked meals last year, the charity has been forced to prepare all of its meals on the premises or in another licensed facility. Some longtime volunteers at Christ House say that this has prevented many donations and slowed the process of serving those in need.
“We’re not a threat to the community; we’re a pillar to the community,” said Larry Quetsch, a volunteer at the operation for 33 years. “I’m not sure that the way we’ve been doing it for a year now is superior in terms of health.”
Other volunteers are also concerned that the change has hurt service delivery at Christ House. Ray O’Brien, a volunteer at Christ House for 13 yeas, said that the Health Department’s action is emblematic of the lack of concern that society shows for those who are homeless or in need. He said that he didn’t think that home-cooked meals presented a danger, and that the Health Department should have considered the consequences of its actions.
“I’m not very pleased with the situation,” O’Brien said. “My wife cooks macaroni and cheese for a Washington charity, but we can’t deliver the same dish to Christ House.”
CATHOLIC CHARITIES, which operates Christ House, worked with the Health Department last year to create a timetable for making the change. Steve Luteran, director of Catholic Charities, acknowledged that many of the volunteers were upset about the change. But he also said that the organization was given few options, and conforming to health codes was an important duty of any organization.
“It wasn’t like we were fighting this,” Luteran said. “It really wasn’t up for debate.”
Elderly volunteers who enjoyed cooking at home are now unable to participate in the charity, Luteran said. And volunteers now have to arrive two hours earlier to make sure that the entire meal is prepared in the licensed kitchen at Christ House. But Luteran said that the organization is working to adapt to a new way of life.
“With any change, some people won’t be happy,” Luteran said. “I don’t think that the request was unreasonable.”
Bob Custard, an environmental health manager with the city’s Health Department, said that homeless people are particularly susceptible to foodborne illnesses. So the home-cooked meals represented a threat to the population they were prepared to help. Furthermore, the growth of bacteria is a concern for kitchens that aren’t designed for large-scale cooking.
“Imagine that you decide to prepare a meal for 60 people in your kitchen,” Custard said. “But your refrigerator wasn’t designed to handle that much food.”
Adapting to the change has created a need for volunteers at Christ House, which serves 16,000 meals a year. Ruth Guillen, a caseworker at Christ House, said that those wishing to volunteer their time can help on Nov. 20 and 21, when the charity will be preparing for the massive effort. Aside from the handful of volunteers who coordinate the holiday meal, many more volunteers are needed ahead of the holiday to facilitate distribution of Thanksgiving baskets.
“We only have two staff people,” Guillen said. “But we have more than 100 families that will be coming to pick up Thanksgiving baskets.”