Can you tell me the origin story of Loaves & Fishes -- how and why it was founded, and how its mission has evolved over time?
Jerry Denney, a member of Charlottesville’s First United Methodist Church, started Loaves & Fishes as a church mission in 2004 when he identified food insecurity as an issue in the Charlottesville community. Church volunteers started distributing food donated by church members out of an after-school classroom at Jackson-Via Elementary, providing 56,284 lbs. of food to an average of 296 households/month (about 16 lbs. of food per family/month).
21 years later, Loaves & Fishes is a free-standing nonprofit organization, owns their facility, a 5,900 sq. ft. warehouse on 3 acres at 2050 Lambs Road, and in 2024, with 7 full-time and 8 part-time staff and 500 volunteers, gave out 2,888,565 pounds of food to an average of 2,767 households/month. Our goal is to provide a week’s worth of food, based on household size, that accommodates dietary restrictions and cultural preferences. 65% of the food we distribute now is perishable and includes milk, eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, and meat.
How would you describe Loaves & Fishes’ core mission and values today?
Loaves & Fishes provides nourishing food with respect and dignity to all who seek assistance, while offering robust opportunities for community engagement through volunteerism, partnerships, and nutrition education.
What unique role does Loaves & Fishes play in the Charlottesville/Albemarle County food assistance ecosystem?
Loaves & Fishes is the largest food distribution organization in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. We source our food from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which provides 50% of the food we give out, and rescue food from 7 local grocery stores that they are no longer able to sell due to damage, close sell-by dates, or newer inventory (35% of the food we distribute).
Loaves & Fishes is the only area free food distributor that has a full-time registered dietitian nutritionist who assesses the nutritional value of the food, offers pantry visitors food that is new to them, and helps pantry visitors accommodate dietary restrictions, cultural preferences, and health conditions.
We strive to provide a week’s worth of food based on household size up to two times each month, and we have staff or volunteers registering visitors during distributions who speak Spanish, English, Dari, Pashto, and Arabic.
How many people or households do you serve in an average month or year?
The need for food supports this year has increased 20% over 2024, and we are currently providing groceries to 12,000 people in 3,100 households each month.
What are some of the most significant challenges the pantry has faced recently?
Loaves & Fishes’ most pressing current challenge is providing food for a growing number of households and people seeking assistance, which is up 50% from two years ago, while supplies have decreased. The continued high cost of groceries, coupled with higher costs of housing, utilities, and transportation in our community and new qualifications for SNAP (food stamp) benefits have forced people to come for assistance who have never visited a food distribution organization before, and we are buying more food (milk, eggs, produce, meat) than ever in the history of our organization.
What does “providing food with dignity” mean in practice here?
Loaves & Fishes asks for the names and birthdates of household members receiving food and an estimate of total monthly household income, but we do not ask people seeking food to prove their identity, income, residence, legal residency in the US, or benefits. All collected data is secured in a database that is shared only within the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s network. We also do not take photos of pantry visitors or anything that could be used to identify them, to preserve their anonymity and dignity, as seeking assistance can be stigmatizing.
We also give pantry visitors the ability to leave behind any food they will not eat, communicate in the language in which they are most comfortable, and learn about how to enjoy food that is new to them through samples, recipes, and cooking classes.
To learn more or to donate food, pet food, diapers, and feminine sanitary supplies, or monetarily, visit CvilleFoodPantry.org.
Loaves & Fishes provides nourishing food with respect and dignity to all who seek assistance, while offering robust opportunities for community engagement through volunteerism, partnerships, and nutrition education.
We also give pantry visitors the ability to leave behind any food they will not eat, communicate in the language in which they are most comfortable, and learn about how to enjoy food that is new to them through samples, recipes, and cooking classes.