Letter from the Director:
Welcome to the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. We opened our doors in August 2001 and seven years later we are the largest food pantry in Delaware County. We serve a geographic area from Eddystone to Glenolden and from Tinicum Township through Swarthmore/Rutledge/Holmes. This encompasses the Ridley and Interboro School Districts. We are part of the Delco Interfaith Food Assistance Network, a program of Family & Community Service of Delaware County.
The pantry was started when Lana Lindenmuth (the Financial Director) and I noticed that an increasing number of families and individuals were coming to our church for help with food. Our church could not keep pace with the requests. This became the genesis of the pantry.
We spent our first two years not only serving individuals and families, but networking with other churches, businesses, organizations, school districts and individuals seeking support for our operation, something that continues to this day. We were eventually made a part of the food distribution available through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture State Food Purchase Program. However, only about 30 percent of our food and funding comes from this source. We are on our own to raise the rest of the food and funding we need. We continue to network and build bridges throughout our area to better serve our clients. We are part of the Delco Interfaith Food Assistance Network (DIFAN), an organization comprised of 11 food pantries covering all of Delaware County.
Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry is an all-volunteer operation. Prospect Hill Baptist Church donates the space we use. Our clients are individually screened and must fall within the government guidelines for poverty. Each family receives a box of food that gives them three meals a day for five days for EACH member of the family. Each box is packed to be nutritionally balanced.
Aside from food, we have several ongoing programs (see our program area on this website) and we need help to keep these going, too.
The other thing we provide is a caring atmosphere where each individual is treated with dignity and understanding. Our clients are not file numbers or case numbers to us; they are individuals and we know virtually all of them by name. More than 700 families come to us and in 2008 we served nearly 12,000 individuals.
We hope you will find this website interesting and wish to take join with us in serving others. In addition to donations of food or funds, we always need volunteers. Contact us! Become part of this community outreach program that serves those in need with the most fundamental needs of their existence.
We hope you will find this website interesting and wish to take join with us in serving others. In addition to donations of food or funds, we always need volunteers. Contact us! Become part of this community outreach program that serves those in need with the most fundamental needs of their existence.
Sincerely,
