Loaves & Fishes
Loaves & Fishes
Greenville, South Carolina
Loaves & Fishes, Greenville's only perishable food rescue program, has been serving Greenville County since 1991.
Our 185 volunteers and two staff drivers pick up and deliver those items each day to agencies that provide assistance to those in need. We serve 145 agencies on a schedule that ranges from seven days a week to once a month, depending on the needs of the agency.
More than 62 generous food donors, ranging from grocery stores and restaurants to corporations, provide regular donations of perishable foods. Another 146 donors call in with donations.
Fifty percent of the food we rescue is supplied to agencies that provide primary meals and emergency food pantries for families and individuals. Senior citizens are the next largest single group, with deliveries going to low income senior housing and to senior centers. The balance of our recipient agencies are after school programs, nonprofit day cares, community centers and programs serving special populations. Recipient agencies serve as few as five people a day to as many as 350.
Our ability to serve the community has grown from 25,000 pounds of perishables in our first year to close to 1,133,357 pounds in 2004.
Our recipient agencies say that donations they receive through Loaves & Fishes allow them to provide services to their clients instead of purchasing and providing food. In other agencies, the Loaves & Fishes donations augment the services that are provided and introduce a fresh variety of foods to enhance the regular fare. Loaves & Fishes has never charged for food and never will.
Loaves & Fishes accomplishes its mission through the generosity of many members of the community. We are a United Way Community Partner and receive funding from the BI-LO Charity Classic, Taste of the Nation, Fall for Greenville and local and national foundations including Kraft Foods, The UPS Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Greenville. Many individuals and churches also support our mission.
In the future, Loaves & Fishes plans to obtain a centrally located distribution facility that will allow us to expand our collections and deliveries and to provide a greater variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and other perishable foodstuffs to our recipient agencies.
For more information, please contact us at (864) 232-3595
Loaves & Fishes
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