Loaves and Fishes Too

Vision
We are guided by our vision that all people, regardless of socioeconomic, cultural or ethnic backgrounds deserve to meet their basic needs for food, dignity and respect. It is only then that self-esteem and empowerment can move individuals to independence. We are focused on the individual. A Loaves & Fishes site provides access to additional social services as needed and appropriate.

Mission
The mission of Loaves & Fishes is to provide nutritious meals to the hungry of the Twin City Metro area in an atmosphere of hospitality at site locations where the need is greatest and develops joint ventures/partnerships with like-minded organizations to assist guests with additional basic needs and to becoming self-sufficient.

Who Are Our Volunteers?
The vast majority of the 300 serving teams that makeup the core of our volunteers come from faith-oriented organizations (about 80%). The remaining 20% come from community businesses, companies, civic groups like Rotary, Chambers of Commerce, American Legions, etc. With each serving team consisting of fifteen to thirty members, the average number of volunteers at Loaves and Fishes at any given time is roughly 4,000. For twenty-seven years (1982-2008) these volunteers have been the heart and soul of our organization. Many of the teams have been serving meals at least once a month for all twenty-seven years. Many have served from ten to fifteen years. All of the teams bring outstanding dedication and commitment of service that is beneficial to the organization and to our guests.

What Our Volunteers Do
Volunteering at Loaves and Fishes usually occurs through someone’s church, company or civic group affiliation wanting to help feed people in need at one of our eight dining sites. Someone generally helps to organize a group of between ten and twenty volunteers so that once each month (or sometimes every other month) the group will purchase, prepare, serve, and clean-up the food for the evening meal at one of our eight locations. The number of meals served varies from site to site, however, 120 to 350 meals daily is the average range. Providing respite and hospitality to the guests from the communities is part of the evening meal service.