About
Our Story
One in nine people in Charlottesville struggles to access enough healthy food each month. Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry exists to provide free groceries to families and individuals in Charlottesville and surrounding communities. This struggle can have many effects—adults may skip meals to make sure children eat or they may have to choose between food and other important expenses such as housing, utilities or medical bills.
By providing free groceries twice per month to low-wealth households, Loaves & Fishes helps them stretch their food budgets further. We are the 2nd largest distribution partner of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
We work with many area partners including Piedmont Housing Alliance, Salvation Army, The Haven, The Crossings, Alliance for Interfaith Ministries, the International Rescue Committee, International Neighbors, Region 10, the Emergency Food Network and other food pantries to provide food to people who are unable to come to the pantry.
Our History
2023
125 volunteers each week assist our 15 staff (7 full-time, 8 part-time) in collecting, inspecting, sorting, bagging, and giving out food to 500 households each week. In 2023, Loaves & Fishes gave 2,369,784 lbs. of free groceries to 100,235 people in 27,212 households from Charlottesville and all surrounding counties.
2020
When COVID-19 arrived in March, Loaves & Fishes hired 6 additional part time staff, reduced volunteer opportunities by 75%, moved distributions to prepacked food distributed outside, canceled regular Tuesday evening distributions, and distributed 1,991,768 lbs. of food to 19,741 households
2015 (August)
Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry relocated to 2050 Lambs Road, greatly expanded our food storage and choices, and implemented the client choice model where clients can choose the foods their families are most likely to eat.
2013 (June)
Loaves & Fishes added its first full-time employee, an Executive Director, to provide oversight to our program and to help us build capacity. Since then, we have added a full-time Operations Manager and Warehouse Assistant, full-time Office Manager/Bookkeeper, a Volunteer Coordinator and part-time Driver to keep up with our growing organization and the need in our community.
2012
Loaves & Fishes move to Greenbrier Drive in Albemarle County to better serve our expanding client base and to include space for refrigeration equipment.
2011
With a desire to build on broader partnerships across the community, Loaves & Fishes was incorporated as a Virginia non-profit corporation and received 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS.
2004
Loaves & Fishes began as an outreach ministry of Charlottesville’s First United Methodist Church.
A Food Bank Agency
As a distribution partner of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Loaves & Fishes gives out two different United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food programs, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). In 2022, 25% of our groceries came from the USDA, with another 22% from donations to the Food Bank passed through to the pantry.
We also accept donations of food directly from local grocers, farmers, orchards, food distributors, and food drives.
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 300-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.
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:
- Mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; - Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
- Email: program.intake@usda.gov.
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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