Loaves & Fishes will be closed Tuesday, December 24,2024  through Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

Cooking Classes with Grocery Pick-up ~ Clases de Cocina con Recogida de Comestibles

Loaves & Fishes offers cooking classes on Fridays from 11 am-1 pm.
Openings are limited; please register by emailing lfcookingclasses@gmail.com or texting ‪(434) 260-3528‬.


Seeking bilingual registration specialists, particularly those who speak Dari and Pashto or Arabic. Read job description here and apply here.

Mission

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.

Tax ID 45-1498743

There are a number of ways to support our mission with donations, as well as goods and services, and easy giving programs.

How things work at Loaves & Fishes

We are working to strengthen our community by combatting hunger.

What kind of food will I get?

Loaves & Fishes is happy to provide groceries for you two times each month. Each time someone visits Loaves & Fishes, they will receive a grocery cart (about 100 pounds) of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, pastries, and dessert, milk, eggs, frozen meat, and a variety of canned and dried fruits, canned vegetables, and other shelf-stable foods like oil, cereal, pasta, and rice.

What to expect when you visit.

Groceries are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis three days a week—no appointment is needed. Tuesday's grocery pickup is by appointment only.

We invite you to come to the Pantry, follow the parking instructions, stay in your car, and wait for your groceries to be delivered to your vehicle.

DRIVE THROUGH GROCERY PICKUP
Wednesdays: 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Thursdays: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Saturdays: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

BY ADVANCE APPOINTMENT ONLY
Tuesdays: 4:00 – 7:00 PM*

 

How to Support Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry

Volunteer, Donate Money, Donate Food & Supplies, Purchase Loaves & Fishes Items

Loaves & Fishes relies on the support of 125 volunteers each week to help us inspect, sort, pack, and give out fresh produce, meat, bread, and shelf-stable commodity items. Shifts are offered six days each week and range in length from 90 minutes to four hours. Volunteers work alongside staff members, and training is provided at the start of each shift, so no prior experience is needed for any of our jobs.

People struggle with hunger right here in Charlottesville. Map the Meal Gap, a project of Feeding America, found that Charlottesville in 2022 had the highest level of food insecurity in our area, with one in 7 people (14.1%) unable to access enough healthy food each month, and child food insecurity at 17.3%.

27% of Charlottesville families live at or below the poverty level and cannot afford the essentials of life (food, shelter, clothing, utilities) and the costs of working (childcare, transit).

Tax ID 45-1498743

The food Loaves & Fishes gives out comes from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, local groceries, farmers, orchards, food distributors, food drives, and purchases from wholesale vendors.  We accept donations of frozen meat, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, and canned and dried foods. Click button below to see items we need.

More Information

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Nutritionist Corner

Staff members and registered dietitians Monica Davis and Samantha Van Dyke help sort and select the best foods when assembling groceries for our guests. They provide recipes and tips on ways to store and prepare, the food we provide. Monica writes a monthly newsletter that is included in each visitor’s bags of food. Monica and Samantha offer nutrition education activities at the Pantry.

We have answers to the many questions regularly asked by clients, volunteers and supporters on our FAQ page. If you do not find an answer to your query, please get in touch with us using the email form below.

Thank you for your participation and support.

Help your neighbors access healthy food.

https://us16.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/show-email?id=14206727

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Loaves gets 3,800 people food before Thanksgiving

https://mailchi.mp/a83db75e8834/loaves-gets-3800-people-food-before-thanksgiving

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Fall 2024 Update – Thanks for helping 10K people a month get groceries!

With your help, Loaves & Fishes is providing a week’s worth of groceries (at least 100 lbs. per household), including milk, eggs, meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables for more than 10,000 people a month in 2024.

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2023 Impact Report

Read about Loaves & Fishes’ impact in 2023 here.

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Mid-Summer 2024 Update

Thank you for being Loaves & Fishes’ partner in ensuring that our neighbors receive fresh, nutritious groceries each time they visit. Read more

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May 2024 newsletter

Read here

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Last Newsletter for 2023

Read here

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Cultivate Charlottesville and the Urban Agriculture Collective

It was 3:30 in the afternoon on a Friday in early June when a tan pickup truck rolled into the parking lot of the Friendship Court Apartments. The truck belonged to Cultivate Charlottesville, a local non-profit that operates an urban farm program called the Urban Agriculture Collective. Inside the truck’s bed were neatly stacked bins of fresh produce.…

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Blue Ridge Health District’s New Mobile Health Clinic Makes First Stop at Loaves & Fishes

Loaves & Fishes was delighted to be chosen as the first stop for the Blue Ridge Health District’s new Mobile Health Clinic during our regular Wednesday afternoon food distribution on June 9, 2021. The health district purchased the unit, a long-time dream according to Carol Chandross, a nurse for 30 years with the health district, with…

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Meet Loaves & Fishes Board Member Daniel Fairley

Loaves & Fishes Board member Daniel Fairley is passionate about social justice and equity, with a focus on service and action. His involvement in the Charlottesville community—Big Brothers, Big Sisters volunteer; member, and now President of 100 Black Men; and as Youth Opportunity Coordinator for the City of Charlottesville since 2017—has deepened his commitment. Daniel’s…

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Testimonials

Great people there love that the young people are involved and so polite. these people help keep my tummy from growling, bless you all. 
A great place to volunteer where you are really helping people. 
I just want to thank you for all of the help I received y'all are extremely nice and helpful. Very friendly atmosphere and staff. May god bless y'all.

This was my 1st experience and I am blown away. They did everything! They collected, and loaded everything! Even got books for my grandbabies and a cake to help celebrate my grandson's birthday! These things matter! Especially when life hasn’t been easy on you. Just remember to bring your bags. Definitely an amazing resource for our community! Thank you so much❤️.

This place caters to your family's needs well beyond just giving you food. They accommodated lactose-free and gluten-sensitive family members. Fresh fruit platters, racks of ribs, ground beef... On top of it all. The lady there (wish I got her name) gave me the prettiest flower bouquet. I had told her about my son's accident and the reason my family found themselves in need of assistance. Not once did I feel like I was any less of a person and they really made themselves available and got to you fast and yet didn't make you feel rushed. Good job God bless … and I'm sure they could use all the extra help in food donations and money. Oh, I forgot. They even gave my dog some food. These guys are a godsend… please if you can give to loaves and fishes if you are in need of a bit of help. These guys are the place to get it from.

This a wonderful place that has helped me a lot of times when I was in crisis or had no money at all to put food on the table. If, you need assistance when things are not going your way and you have a way of putting food on the table. Go to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry. They will help you you never will go hungry. GOD Bless this organization and the volunteer staff.

Welcome to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry

Food Distribution

How Things Work

Focus on Nutritious Food

UVA Volunteers at Loaves & Fishes

Contact Us

We would love to hear from you.

Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry
2050 Lambs Road
Charlottesville, VA 22901

434-996-7868

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    Stay informed!

    We send an email newsletter quarterly.

    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

    Loaves & Fishes offers food from the US Department of Agriculture's Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Anyone whose total household income is 185% or less of the Federal Poverty Level can receive TEFAP food from Loaves & Fishes and other food pantries.

    Any household receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid is eligible to receive TEFAP food at Loaves & Fishes.

     

    Senior Food Box Program:
    Senior Food Boxes contain food obtained from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) that is then packed by volunteers at the Food Bank, along with nutrition education and recipe cards. This is the USDA’s only program that specifically targets low-income seniors and is open to individuals aged 60 and over with incomes at or below the current 130% federal poverty guidelines.

    Each month, qualified area seniors at least 60 years of age visiting Loaves & Fishes receive a 30-pound box of shelf-stable foods, such as milk, juice, cereal, rice or pasta, peanut butter, dry beans, canned meat, poultry, or fish, canned fruits and vegetables, and a two-pound block of cheese, in addition to the fresh and shelf-stable food we give all households.

    USDA Logo

    Loaves & Fishes does not share any information regarding our clients with anyone other than what we are required to report annually to the USDA.

    USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

    To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint Form and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992.

    Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

    1. Mail:
      U.S. Department of Agriculture

      Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
      1400 Independence Avenue, SW
      Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
    2. Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
    3. Email: program.intake@usda.gov.