If you expect to be hungry or even just lonely on Christmas Day, there’s somewhere in the city of Richmond where you’ll be welcomed with open arms and a hot meal.
Lee Ann Sawyer is the executive director of Bridging RVA, a charitable organization that provides essential resources to families in and around Richmond year round. She’s one of the organizers of their Christmas dinner program, and says there’s no barriers to entry for anyone interested in signing up.
“If you're hungry, you can have a meal,” Sawyer said.
These free meals are intended to bring together community members who don’t have anywhere else to go on the holiday. She says people from all walks of life have attended the event over the past seven years that the organization has hosted it.
“There are families that come that may otherwise be alone or not have the means to provide a traditional meal,” Sawyer said. “You have the elderly couple that their kids are all out of town or out of the country. You have the single [person] that is just looking not to be alone and can't get home to their family. So it is such a sweet mix of people that we see that day.”
In previous years, the Christmas Dinner was hosted in-person. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has had to adjust its strategy. Instead of coming together in a singular space, since last year they’ve transitioned to delivering these dinners at patron’s doors.
“Just like things like DoorDash, [volunteers] would have a distribution list,” Sawyer said. “So [volunteers] would have names, the number of meals that are in each bag and the address that it's going to. And then they would basically drive around the city and drop these bags at the homes, knock on the door, say ‘Merry Christmas and here's your Christmas meal.’”
This Christmas will be the fifth one that Susan Cheatham has spent volunteering with Bridging RVA.
“My children were getting older, you know, they were in college. And we just said, we wanted to redo Christmas totally all together, cut back on the gifts and focus on what Christmas really is all about,” Cheatham said.
She wasn’t able to volunteer last year, so the pandemic meal delivery model will be new to her this year. She and Sawyer say it’s still important work, even if they miss gathering in person.
“It loses some of the uniqueness of it the way we had it, but there's still a purpose,” Cheatham said. “We just pray hard that next year, we can be back in person because it loses a lot when it's distant. As we've lost so much in our society in the last year and a half.”
In person, Cheatham says something really special happens.
“It's eye-opening, it’s humbling, it's wonderful,” Cheatham said. “The feeling that you have walking away from it, grateful for what you have. Because the patrons that we're serving don't have much. And just so the warmth, the feeling that you get, because the patrons are all so appreciative, and warm, and they want to talk to you and they want to tell you their story. And it was one of the most moving experiences. So that's why we go back, we go back every year.”
Most people who access the Christmas dinner are referred to Bridging RVA by the Communities in Schools of Richmond, a local organization that connects students and families with essential resources. The Virginia Department of Health, the Better Housing Coalition, and the Virginia Department of Social Services also refer patrons to the dinner.
But even if you don’t have a referral, you can stop by Congregation Beth Ahabah on Franklin Street to pick up a meal in-person. The Jewish synagogue has hosted the Christmas dinner for the last four years. Sawyer said because the temple is rarely used on Christmas Day, their partnership has worked well in the past.
“It was one easy conversation with them where they said, ‘We absolutely want to do this,” Sawyer said. ““They [also] have congregants who volunteer on Christmas with us.”
Cheatham said the fact that the temple opens its doors on Christmas Day is heartwarming, and demonstrative of the local Jewish community’s commitment to public service.
“There's a cross section of people involved in this, which is heartening, it really is,” Cheatham said.
But this year, Christmas fell on a Saturday. But the temple didn’t hesitate to honor their commitment to the community.
“I panicked when I realized Christmas was on a Saturday, which is obviously their day of worship,” Sawyer said. She was relived that the congregation was still eager to help.
This year, Bridging RVA is preparing 2,500 meals. They’re still looking for volunteers to greet patrons at the temple, and to deliver the dinners across the city.
John Sawyer is the chairperson of Bridging RVA. He says it’s not too late to sign up to volunteer.
“We still need volunteers. We've had some people cancel and we still need donations. So if anyone has a desire to make a donation or see if there's a volunteer spot available, they can go to bridging rva.org.”
The list to sign up to receive a Christmas dinner delivery this year has closed, but those in need can still collect one in-person by visiting Temple Beth Ahabah at 1111 W Franklin Street in Richmond on Christmas Day from 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.