Crowd gathering on a Saturday morning, waiting to be admitted to St. Francis Table

Saint Francis Table

History

St. Francis Table began operation nearly 30 years ago during the period when Franciscans Friars staffed the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta . The name, St. Francis Table originated with the Franciscans who live their lives in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi .

St. Francis Table was started in response to the fact that there was a need for food for the hungry on Saturday. While various churches offered food during the week, there was no food program running on Saturday.

Today

Currently, St. Francis Table feeds over 550 people every Saturday. The only requirement for the people to be fed, is that they are hungry. Several organizations including parishes, religious denominations, colleges, high schools and companies participate in preparing the food. The head coordinator of St. Francis Table is Ted Davis who has served in this capacity for more than 20 years. Large groups of volunteers are encouraged to schedule their volunteer time through the Shrine office. The maximum number of volunteers that work each week is 50. Please contact Bryan Anthony at the Shrine (404-521-1866) if you want to schedule a group to work on a Saturday.

Volunteering

St. Francis Table begins operation at 7:00AM each Saturday morning. At this time volunteers prepare sandwiches, if they have not been donated. Sometimes other churches or organizations donate the sandwiches. Soup is prepared from ingredients that are either donated or are purchased from the Atlanta Community Food Bank (AFCB). No fish or shellfish is used. Coffee is put on to brew, cold drinks are prepared and the cups, bowls, spoons and napkins are assembled and set out by the volunteers.

The guests are invited in at 10AM . They enter through the door located on the Martin Luther King Boulevard side of the Shrine. They each receive a meat and cheese sandwich, bowl, cup, spoon and napkin. After they are seated, the volunteers serve the soup from large pitchers. Each person is fed until they have their fill, they leave through the door on the parking lot side of the church and as they leave through the parking lot door they are given dessert and pizza. After each group leaves, the next group is let in. The kitchen stays open and serves soup and sandwiches until 12:00 noon when clean up begins.

St. Francis Table also runs a food pantry. The schedule of operation is 9:30AM – 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Written referrals are required from participating agencies to receive food from the pantry. Some of the referring agencies include Poverty Rights, AID Atlanta, Task Force For The Homeless, Safehouse, Defacs, and Grady Health System.

Support

St. Francis Table is funded through donations from parishioners and friends of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

How can you help?

• Sign up to serve some Saturday, please call Bryan Anthony at 404-521-1866.
• Organize a food drive for the food pantry.
• Make meat and cheese sandwiches (no condiments) and deliver to the church for Saturday morning (let Bryan know if you are going to do this).
• Make a monetary donation to the St. Francis Table.