Loaves & Fishes

We seek to express God's love in the world and to share that love by offering partial relief of physical needs in a nurturing,spiritual environment to those persons in our community who come to us seeking food.

Description:
Loaves & Fishes is a Saturday morning emergency food pantry located at the Episcopal Church of St. Paul & St. James in downtown New Haven.While food is being distributed, refreshments are served in a hospitality area, a piano player offers welcoming hymns, and a priest is available for those seeking spiritual support.In addition to providing groceries,Loaves & Fishes operates a clothing closet for its guests and functions as a host site for the Community Health Care Van twice a month.The Mustardseed Club, a book sharing, storytelling opportunity, is available to children of pantry guests every Saturday morning. Annually, Loaves & Fishes distributed an average of 13,000 bags of groceries to supplement 150,000 meals to those in need. Volunteers are the primary source for food shopping, delivery and program evaluation.

History:
Loaves & Fishes began when the office staff of St. Paul's church requested that parishioners begin bringing food to church with them in response to the problem of hunger in the surrounding neighborhoods.The food was stored in a "closet" in the church office and given to those in need. In 1982, Loaves & Fishes was formally established as a mission of the church, accountable to the church vestry. Although the pantry distributed about ten bags of groceries a week in 1982 as compared to its current weekly average of 250 bags, its mission of attending to the physical needs of those in our community who come to us for help without regard to income or assets has remained essentially unchanged.

Contact people:

Wendy Mcleod, Coordinator And Grant Writer, (phone), (email) Barbara Cheney, Executive Director, (phone) Sally Fleming, Team Captain, (phone)

Office fax number: (203) 562-0408

Address:

57 Olive Street New Haven, CT 06511 (See a map)

Web Site: None specified

Directions:

Loaves & Fishes is located at The Episcopal Church of St. Paul & St. James at the corner of Chapel and Olive Streets in the Wooster Square section of New Haven (across from Comcast). From I-91, take Exit 2 (Hamilton Street). At the end of the ramp, turn right on to Hamilton. Proceed to the end of the block and take a right on to Chapel Street. The church is at the second traffic light on the left. From Whitney Avenue: Proceed South on Whitney Avenue until it becomes Temple Street. Follow Temple Street to the New Haven Green. At the end of the green, make a left on to Chapel. Follow Chapel to the church, which is at the corner of Chapel and Olive Streets (approximately 6 city blocks). Volunteers should park in the parking lot behaind the church and enter the kitchen through either of the two ground-level doors.   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: N/A   Nearest Bus Stop: We are a 5 minute walk from the New Haven Green, which is frequented by all city bus lines., 5 mins. minute walk

Last updated on July 30, 2009