Originally published on January 21, 2025, by Erika Christ on Mount Vernon on the MoVe
LCAC staff members and volunteers in the food pantry, where clients can select food and other items for their families.
The Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC) celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025 — a time when the nonprofit’s services are in increasingly high demand, yet a degree of uncertainty looms.
Founded in 1975 as the Lorton Community Information Center, the organization initially focused on providing food, clothing and human services to the Lorton community. Today, LCAC provides basic necessities, emergency financial assistance and outreach programs promoting self-sufficiency to low-income residents of Lorton, Fort Belvoir, Newington and other parts of Southeastern Fairfax County.
According to LCAC staff, it was the nonprofit’s founder, Christine Herbstreith, who first envisioned a “supermarket of human services” in Lorton, which would comprise a library, community center and nonprofit support for the community. That vision was realized in 2022 with the opening of the colocated Lorton Community Center and Lorton Library at 9520 Richmond Highway.
Since moving into the community center that fall, LCAC has served a steadily increasing number of clients, many of whom have experienced increasing rent and food costs. During their first year in the new facility, the nonprofit served 1,700 individuals, said LCAC’s executive director Rob Rutland-Brown. The following year (fiscal year 2024), they served 1,990 people, and in the first six months of FY 2025 alone (July – December 2024), they’ve served 1,789 individuals. Food pantry visits are also on the rise, with 7,576 visits during year one, 9,892 in year two and an anticipated 11,000+ in FY 2025.
Those numbers are both impressive and daunting. One of LCAC’s ongoing challenges is ensuring they don’t diminish what they offer to existing clients, even as more people register for services, said Rutland-Brown.
“We’ll tackle this as we’ve always done, by forging partnerships to strengthen our work and our resources and tapping into the generosity of volunteers and donors to meet the needs of our neighbors,” he said.
Another big question mark for LCAC this calendar year is the uncertainty around the new U.S. presidential administration and how it might impact families the nonprofit serves.
“We will step in to adjust our offerings and serve clients however they need our support the most if they are impacted by policy changes,” said Rutland-Brown. “This will involve adjusting our budget as needed, regularly assessing priorities and resources, and ensuring we have open communication with those most affected by policies.”
To meet these challenges, LCAC has some big plans for 2025. The plans include a 50th anniversary gala at Woodlawn on April 26 — LCAC’s largest fundraiser of the year — and a May 18 community-wide celebration of the food pantry, which will be dedicated to Herbstreith. LCAC staff members are building out a history timeline on the organization’s website and working on a video for the gala.
The nonprofit will also continue carrying out its strategic plan this year, which includes creating a more robust, healthier food pantry; developing a stronger, more in-depth case management program to help clients achieve self-sufficiency; and increasing programming to address client needs for workforce development and education for children and seniors.
Rutland-Brown said he’s touched and inspired over what LCAC has managed to accomplish over the past five decades.
“Through the tireless efforts of so many within our community, LCAC has been a place for help and a source of hope,” said Rutland-Brown. “Together we will carry on that legacy of service to help Lorton residents with their immediate needs and their long-term goals.”
