One Year Stronger
{Director’s Note}

I have been at Loaves and Fishes for one year now, and a lot has happened. Some good and some bad, but I think of it all as blessings.

As some of you may know, in March of 2023 we had a plumbing emergency. The short version is, through the hydro jetting frozen pipes, we discovered that the pipes needed to be gutted and replaced; half of them immediately.
As you can imagine, a job like this comes with a large price and a hard decision.
Do we try to search for a better price and take bids, all the while the food pantry is closed due to being unable to practice basic sanitation; or, do we take this price and only close for two weeks?
We could not close for that long.

The Blessing-
Even though we were taken advantage of by this plumbing company, It expanded the support system for Loaves & Fishes.
The amount of support that came in for Loaves & Fishes during and after this project was overwhelming. Including a spot on the local news!

Even though we had to take out a loan, it ignited a flame for fundraising and outreach that was fairly dim prior.
We pulled off 2 extra successful fundraisers last year. The Wing Crawl and a Yard Sale.

While we are still bouncing back, without God something like this could have been detrimental to Loaves & Fishes. No matter what is happening God has a plan. Though it is hard to see it at times, there is always a reason why you are going through hard times.

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Over the next year I would like to incorporate these director’s notes as a chance for all of you to get to know me.