St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen began in the early 1900s as an informal food service for homeless persons and rail travelers. Service became formal in 1967 when the parish basement served as an emergency center for the elderly and homeless with the Red Cross feeding more than 200 people sheltered there during the Detroit uprisings. The soup kitchen, located at 4800 Grand River Ave. in Detroit, now serves around 40,000 meals per year, along with providing shower facilities, clothing, barber visits, and other social services.
