About - Grove Christian Outreach

Our Story

Recognizing the need of vulnerable families in the Greater Williamsburg area, Grove Christian Outreach Center became its own nonprofit charitable organization in 2004 with a focus on providing food, clothing and financial assistance to those in need. In the last 20 years, programs have evolved and shifted to meet the changing needs of our community to include:

Food delivery programs for homebound seniors
School supply drives so children have what they need to return to school
Holiday programs to celebrate family traditions.

What started as a single wide trailer in front of one of the mobile home parks in Grove is today a 6,000 square-feet custom built facility that houses all of the outreach center’s programs and services. Since moving into the facility in 2013, Grove Christian has served anywhere between 356 and 575 unique households annually through its pantry program alone with that number projected to be an all-time high in 2023.

In 2023, a total of 575 unique households were served through our Pantry a total of 8,530 times and a total of 31,901 people through various programs.

Facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grove Christian Outreach Center reevaluated its services to center more on the overall health of the community by offering more access to healthy foods. Families can now choose items from a Fresh Food room, products that include local produce, dairy items and ready-to-eat meals such as salads, in addition to staples available through the Food Pantry.

Review Grove Christian Outreach Center on Great Nonprofits

Annual Report

Download Annual Report

Our Team

Katie Patrick

Executive Director

Katie Patrick’s passion to ensure families don’t suffer from food insecurity and hunger stems from her own challenging childhood when hunger was not a stranger. As a young mother, she faced financial poverty, unsure at times, of how she was going to put food on her children’s table much less her own. That’s among the reasons Katie wants to educate the Greater Williamsburg community about the resources Grove Christian Outreach Center offers to make a positive impact in the lives of vulnerable families.

Katie started her career as an Executive Assistant to the CEO at the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula. She worked in multiple roles throughout her 19 years there, rising to Agency Services Director. “That’s where I learned there are more solutions for families facing hard times,” she says.

As part of the Foodbank’s community outreach efforts, Katie realized that the challenges for many families go beyond food insecurity. “It might be a need for clothing or supplies to get their kids to school or learning how to do a budget or needing transportation to get to a job. We live in a society where everybody is always pointing a finger, but bootstraps don’t fit everybody the same.”

Katie took over as Executive Director of Grove Christian Outreach Center in October 2019 with a determination to meet the holistic needs of families. “I like working for a small organization that has a large impact on the people it serves,” she says. “I love the work we do. When I was a child, if somebody had looked at me and known that I needed a meal and rescuing from some other things, it would have had a major impact in my life.”

Katie serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Williamsburg Outreach Mission and the Rob Till Community Garden. She is a Trained Volunteer Emergency Responder for the Poquoson Community Emergency Response Team and spent three years as a Director for Poquoson’s Economic Development Authority. Her past experience also includes being part of a statewide committee that defined Healthy Food Pantry programs. She is a graduate of Network Peninsula’s Nonprofit Leadership Program.

Katie is also a recipient of Network Peninsula’s Excellence in Collaboration Award.

Katie and her husband, Shawn, share five adult children and two grandchildren. “We’re proud of all of them for the different life choices they’ve made, and I’m especially proud of my youngest, Allyson, who works full time here at Grove Christian and shares my passion to serve others.”

Katie and Shawn dote on their two Labrador Retrievers, yellow Lab Chowder; and black Lab Porter. They will soon add a chocolate Lab, (likely named Mousse), to the mix. In her downtime, Katie enjoys riding her Harley Davidson, reading, quilting, baking and relaxing anywhere the sun is shining. She may also be seen cycling on local roadways, perhaps training for the next Century Ride or the MS 150.