Community Spotlight: Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry

Location: Devens, MA

Families served: Last year, the pantry served 1,046 families.

Amount of food from GBFB: On average, GBFB supplies 61 percent of the pantry’s food.

Client choice and dignity: Loaves & Fishes offers online ordering to help their clients select foods that will work best for their own needs. “It gives them more choice,” says Executive Director Patricia Stern. “What we’re finding is there is less waste, and clients get what they need—what their families will eat, and what their families can have with dietary restrictions.”

Sharing resources: Loaves & Fishes purchased a truck with the help of funds from GBFB. Staff use the truck to drive into Boston and pick up food from GBFB’s warehouse, as well as pick up food for neighboring pantries that don’t have trucks of their own.

Holiday helpings: Last year, the pantry provided Thanksgiving dinners to 359 families in need. The food options included turkeys, fresh apple cider, holiday side dishes, and desserts

(Photos courtesy of Loaves & Fishes staff)