How

August 2009

The Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry is run completely by volunteers. Our volunteers come from the local community, a wide range of churches, and some social service agencies whose clients would benefit from the activity and socialization that takes place each day.

The USDA does help us with some food items (about 30 percent of our need), but the Pantry must raise the funds to purchase food products not donated. The Pantry spends thousands of dollars each year purchasing food products to keep our boxes full and nutritionally balanced.

Local businesses and organizations, such as the Crozer Keystone Health System, Rotary Club of Chester Pike, the Taylor Community Foundation, Excelon, and Boeing Vertol, are among a long list of donors. Each play a very important part in keeping us going.

More than 45 churches help us, not only with food but by supplying volunteers and supporting our drives for special projects, such as back packs for school children, and holiday dinners in November and December. The youth in the churches have provided tremendous support, raising funds, conducting food drives, and spreading the word of what is needed and who is being served.

Several school districts, including Interboro, Ridley and Garnet Valley, have helped us keep going by sponsoring food drives within their schools and at times helping out at the Pantry. Interboro High School has not only supported us with food and funding, they sometimes volunteer at the Pantry. They go away with a deeper understanding of the need in our area and what they can do to help eradicate it.

Each May we receive a quantity of food from five different post offices as part of the annual Postal Workers Food Drive. The same is true of local scout troops. Five or six troops donate to us in November during their annual drive.

The rest of our inventory and financial support comes from countless individuals, businesses and organizations throughout Delaware County. Every day we are open, people come through the door with bags of food to donate, sometimes funds, but always a smile and helpful spirit.

Needless to say, our need is constant in order to keep up our supplies. Food items most needed are canned meats, fruits, cereal, rice, pasta, pasta sauces, side dishes (au gratin potatoes, noodle mixes) and soup. Other donations we always need are home/personal items, such as toilet tissue, toothpaste and tooth brushes, soap, laundry detergent, paper towels, bars of soap, dish detergent and cleaning products.

We are a part of the Delco Interfaith Food Assistance Network (DIFAN), a program of Family and Community Services of Delaware County. This network of food centers blanket the county so that no matter where you live in the county, there is a DIFAN center near to you.