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Plus In The Community
This month we are happy to highlight Loaves and Fishes in Greenville SC. Plus Inc. partners with them in assisting with food deliveries.
Loaves & Fishes was founded in Greenville in 1991 after local banker Sam Hunt read about City Harvest, a food rescue organization in New York City. Knowing that hunger was a problem in Greenville and recognizing that a significant amount of high quality perishable food was being discarded rather than effectively utilized to feed the hungry, he engaged a number of his contacts in founding Loaves & Fishes.
From that first year, when 25,000 pounds were rescued, Loaves & Fishes has grown to rescue and deliver over 1,800,000 pounds of food to our 94 partner agencies.
Loaves & Fishes is driven by the collective dream of Greenville County citizens to end food insecurity in our community. It is their mission to rescue food that would otherwise be wasted and deliver it to organizations equipped to feed the hungry. Loaves & Fishes is the only organization in Greenville County that provides free, regularly scheduled deliveries of perishable food for distribution to individuals served at emergency food pantries and neighborhood distribution programs.
Loaves and Fishes currently partner with 94 agencies and counting. They include:
- Single meal providers, such as soup kitchens and breakfast programs
- Nonprofit child care and after school/summer programs
- Shelters and group homes
- Senior programs
- Community centers
- Low income housing for seniors and disabled citizens
- Therapeutic programs supporting special populations
HOW IT WORKS
Who Donates Food?
Loaves & Fishes receives donated food that would otherwise be wasted from restaurants, grocery stores, institutional feeders and caterers.
Additionally, food is received from local farms and gardens (through gleaning) and canned food drives. Many donate food to Loaves & Fishes on a regular basis.
How They Deliver?
Donated food is delivered by our full-time truck drivers and by rescue route volunteers. Volunteers typically rescue non-perishable items, while our trained drivers handle all perishables.
Our drivers are trained in food safety handling best practices and they receive quarterly trainings to refresh their skills. In addition, our refrigerated fleet is inspected annually by the Department of Agriculture.
Loaves & Fishes is unique in that we never store warehouse food - all rescued items are delivered the same day they are received.
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