D.C. Soup Kitchen Founder Celebrates 90th Birthday

D.C. Soup Kitchen Founder Celebrates 90th Birthday

Story by Rocky Twyman

Rocky Twyman, community relations volunteer and Tijuana Griffin, director of the Bread of Life Ministries Soup Kitchen flank Mary Reaves.

More than 40 years ago, Mary Reaves and her husband founded the 4th Street Seventh-day Adventist Vegetarian Soup Kitchen—also known as the Bread of Life Ministries Soup Kitchen—in Northwest Washington, DC. Since opening, the facility has provided delicious, vegetarian meals for hundreds of homeless and people in need in the depressed area.

More than 200 of Reaves’ friends celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year, and she doesn’t show signs of slowing down. She can be seen every Sunday morning directing volunteers or helping with the cooking.

Watch a video about the ministry here.

In addition to being the only soup kitchen in the area that provides vegetarian meals, the project also provides drug abuse and employment counseling, as well as critical health screenings for the more than 100 people who visit every Sunday. According to Tijuana Griffin, facility director, volunteers serve breakfast to the large, local, homeless population every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon.

The birthday party featured testimonies from the community and those who have benefited from the feedings and gone on to become productive citizens. The momentous occasion also included a prayer vigil for Congress to be more compassionate toward the large number of poor and homeless people who are suffering in this current economic climate.