Loaves and Fishes at St. John

02/26/2026

The always amazing Chef Dean, Deacon Lazarus, and Jared leading our Lenten reorientation towards service. All three of these wonderful volunteers keep Loaves & Fishes feeding unhoused neighbors in need day in and day out. Dean has come in to cook for decades. Deacon Lazarus hosts a sandwich making club after Akathist at the amazing St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church in America every Thursday and brings enough sandwiches to feed 60 hungry neighbors for a week every Monday. Jared serves food before attending Matins many weekdays at Saint John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church (OCA) and we will miss him when he moves on to join FOCUS San Francisco this summer.

02/16/2026

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers at St Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church for their Meatfare kitchen takeover! It was such a blessing to join volunteers of all ages in remembering Matthew 25:31-46 and preparing enough amazing food to feed our 60 daily unhoused neighbors and guests multiple times this week. I'm so excited to see what we cook up next week!

02/01/2026

We are so excited about all the wonderful work that so many volunteers have put into raising funds, food, and dry goods for FOCUS Loaves & Fishes this February! Thank you Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church and Holy Transfiguration Greek School for letting us be part of your Valentine's Day celebration! Thank you to Vickie and the amazing volunteers at the St. Photini Outreach of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation Atlanta, Georgia for stocking our pantry! Thank you to Jocelyne and the amazing volunteers at St Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church for the kitchen takeover (and for the cooking lessons)! The work that you all do is what allows us to provide hospitality, warmth, and a place of understanding for those in need every week day. It is such a blessing.

01/27/2026

It is 15 degrees out today (feels like 5 according to Google weather). Our friend Rob usually stays quiet, but yesterday he thanked us for drawing him a map from Saint John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church (OCA) to the Central Park Recreation Center (400 Merritts Avenue N.E.). Because of the bitter cold we are serving in Morton Hall everyday this week. Thanks to our amazing donors, like the Philoptochos Society of Saints Raphael Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church we not only draw maps, but also provide warm meals, hot coffee, gloves, hand warmers, blankets, hats, and thermals to help our guests get where they need to be.

MUST Ministries said its warming shelter may stay open “the longest stretch of days we’ve ever had it open.”

01/19/2026

So many moments of joy surround the baptismal font at Saint John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church (OCA) every day. It is always such a blessing to witness even a few of them.

01/13/2026

Thank you to Amy and Melissa at Central Presbyterian Church! It is because of all the wonderful donations we get from amazing individuals and institutions all over Atlanta that allow us to serve up delicious pastries and coffee every morning at 7:30 while we cook our 9 am hot meal.

01/01/2026

Starting the new year off right by serving 54 neighbors in need! Thank you Vickie Klemis and the amazing St. Photini Outreach for showing up already in this new year with boxes of cups. Thanks always to the amazing group at St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church in America who make a week's worth of sandwiches every Thursday after Akathist 😍.

12/30/2025

Thank you to the amazing Jocelyne Nassar, Matthew Halkos, Noelle Brandy, and the rest of the charity team at my beloved home church St Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church for your generous gift. Today volunteers from St. Elias and other parishes served coffee and food to 50 neighbors in need. With the help of the always excellent Grant Park fire station 10 they assisted a neighbor in crisis, as well as handed out as much gear for this cold week as they could. Your wonderful donations help us continue this work day in and day out.

12/26/2025

Thank you to our amazing volunteers who came in the day after Christmas to keep the meals going! Special thanks to Rachel, Ruth, Beryl, Hakim, and as always the amazing Mr. David. We served 54 delicious plates to our hungry neighbors.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas! Christ is born! We had an amazing morning service feeding over 85 of our unhoused neighbors today. We saw so many old friends and new ones. Thank you so much to all our amazing volunteers from St. Mary of Egypt Russian Orthodox Church, and Saint John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church (OCA), as well as those from the neighborhood, Peake Nasrallah and everyone who contributed to making his backpack drive such a success. It was so inspiring to see so many people lend their talents to honoring the joy that today brings.

12/24/2025

It's a blessing when just enough warmth blows through Atlanta on a Wednesday morning to give us one more visit from our amazing friends at Feet On The Street Ministries.Org this year. Pastor Maurice Lattimore, Dennis, and the rest of the crew are such an inspiration. Warm showers, warm hearts, and warm conversation are always had when they arrive.

12/23/2025

Today we drove out to Lawrenceville to say good bye to our kind and creative friend Mitun. At times a guest, at times a volunteer, at times sarcastic, but always a joy and always concerned with helping his friends and neighbors. He is missed. Thank you to Mercy Care for their beautiful candlelight requiem last Thursday where his name joined many others.