PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Brother Kevin Crowley who has retired after more than 50 years at the Capuchin Day Centre.
Meals and food parcels have been provided to tens of thousands of people since the centre was set up in Dublin in 1969.
Brother Kevin (87) set up the centre after he saw men eating food out of bins.
Staff and and users were emotional on Friday as they bade farewell to a man they described as a "legend".
The centre has seen a sharp increase in demand for services in recent years. More than 900 meals are provided dailyand 1,500 food parcels are handed out to people in need every Wednesday.
Brother Kevin, who plans to moves back to his home city of Cork, said he hoped his kindness and generosity of spirit would live on in the staff at the centre.
President Higgins said Brother Kevin had led "an invaluable service that is providing essential food and compassion to those most in need in our capital city".
"Pope Francis has spoken of a 'culture of indifference' and has challenged us all not to avert our gaze or to turn away from those who suffer on our shared planet," President Higgins said.
"Brother Kevin, and those who work alongside him, in their work are meeting this challenge every day. May I take this opportunity to thank Brother Kevin and all those in the Capuchin Day Centre for their great spirit of shared humanity and determined pursuit of dignity, their practical work in the delivery of human rights for all our fellow citizens."