The kitchen at Brooklyn Heights United Methodist Church was bustling one Tuesday earlier this month, a sign to the volunteers with its Body and Soul program that the free hot meals and bags of groceries they provide to the needy are needed more than ever.

The church has run the program twice a month since 1990, said Charlotte Tucker, a volunteer who was checking in attendees. The first Tuesday of the month, attendees get a hot meal, and the second, they also get a bag of groceries.

For many of the attendees, the reason for the program is simple: It's what Christians do for others.

"We were always taught to help...