Loaves & Fish Food Pantry

Loaves & Fish Food Pantry Loaves & Fish Food Pantry is dedicated to food assistance in the twin county area.

08/27/2026

Just a reminder we moved to our new location at 300 West Old Town Street this week. We will be changing our late afternoon opening on September 1 to Tuesday 4-6 rather than Thursday 4-6. Since we are only about a block away from God's Storehouse we want to be open on Tuesday while the soup kitchen is so that people can save a trip by visiting both at the same time Also, in an effort to reduce waste we are now set up so that friends and neighbors can actually shop the food pantry and choose what they want rather than getting a pre packaged food box that may contain items you don't need or want. Folks can still continue to get a pre packaged box, but it really helps us do a better job of ordering what people need and want when they do their own choosing.

08/19/2026

We have just been majorly blessed again. The Lord has provided us with the opportunity to move into our own space. We will be closing at Endless Possibilities on Thursday afternoon and reopening on Tuesday August 25 at our new location at 300 West Oldtown Street here in Galax. We will be keeping the same morning hours of 10-1 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but will be changing out late afternoon opening from Thursday to Tuesday. Our new location is just down the street from the soup kitchen operated by God's Storehouse so we are changing our late afternoon to coincide with one of the days they are serving meals so that folks can get a hot meal there and pick up food from us all in one trip.
While we have appreciated the hospitality and kindness of Endless Possibilities Church, we outgrew the space sometime ago. and they are growing and cramped for space as well. We had a problem with the IRS regarding our 501c3 status that had to worked out however before we could venture out on our own. Our brave accountant Eric DeHaven took on the job of getting the problem solved and he sent the necessary paperwork to the IRS towards the end of June. It said in the instructions that we should expect a response from the IRS within a couple of months. We received a letter from the IRS the second week in July telling us that based on the information they received they agreed that Loaves and Fish had been misclassified and they had changed our status to a 501c3. So this allowed for the possibility of a move to a larger space.
We needed some additional space because some of the programs in which we are eligible to participate require their food to be kept in a separate room. Since we only had one room, we could not take advantage of this and other opportunities provided through out partnership with the wonderful folks at Feeding Southwest Virginia in Abingdon. But within a couple weeks of receiving the letter, one of our volunteers saw this building on Oldtown Street. When we looked at it I told a couple of our volunters that if I could have designed a space for us I would have laid it out exactly as this building is. We applied for it last week and got the welcome news Friday that our rental application was approved even though our offer was for less than fair market rent . This was a big deal because we had looked into a couple other places first that frankly made it pretty clear they did no twant a food pantry for a tenant.
We are going to have room to allow our friends and neighbors to do some shopping and pick items they want rather than being handed a pre packaged box. And it just so happens the training for the program we want to add is coming up on September 11. We had not planned to go thinking there was no use to train for a program we couldn't do, but now we can because our God is a waymaker

08/03/2026

Another blessing. A gentleman from Blacksburg called last week and said he would like to make a donation to help a struggling food pantry and said he wanted to bring us a truck load of canned goods and said he could be in Galax at 12:30 on Friday. Sure enough Mr. David Bennett showed up on Friday with a variety of canned meats and vegetables and bags of beans and rice - I would estimate between $300 and $400 worth of food. I don't even know how he even heard of us but once again the Lord just blessed us out of the blue clear sky . We are very grateful for Mr. Bennett's generous donation. I also want to do a shout out to some of our volunteers. We are not open on Fridays but when I got to the pantry Caden, Michael and Rico were all there to help unload the truck and sort and shelve the food we received.

07/31/2026

Our July numbers are in. Thanks to the Lord we were able to give out 329 food boxes this month and help feed 827 people. 192 of these were our senior citizens who are being hit very hard by the rising cost of everything without any corresponding increase in income. We had 75 friends and neighbors who visited us for the first time in July. We are so thankful to be partnered with Feeding Southwest Virginia in Abingdon, our local connection to Feeding America. We could not handle the numbers of folks we are serving if it were not for the lower prices we get on the food we purchase from them and the free stuff that comes our way almost monthly. We purchase everything except our perishable food from them.
But even with their help it takes about $5000 per month to provide food to 300+ households and our numbers are continuing to grow. We are very blessed to have 4 or 5 local churches who contribute to us regulary and some very generoud donors who do not live in the area but follow us on Facebook. And we also want to give a shout out to the people we serve whi leave a few dollars in our donation jar. We certanly don't require or even expect that, but last year we had over $1000 come through the donation jar. Year before last when Hurricane Helene hit we set up a donation jar to help with the recovery effort and we were able to send $50 to Samaritans Purse which shows that even folks with limited resources still want to help those in need.
Two years ago we started an adopt a family for a year program. We asked folks to give $15 per month for $180 a year to cover the cost of a food box for a year. We had around 80 of these sponsorships last year which provided around $14,000. This year we are hoping to double that number. But if you frequent the grocery store you know that prices have been steadily increasing so the cost of a food box right now is closer to $20 per month. This year our sponsorships are going to run $20 per month or $200 if the entire amount is paid in advance.
Hey thanks to everyone who follows us on Facebook. We appreciate your taking the time to keep up with what's going on with us. We have had some tough times when we weren't sure there was going to be enough food to get through the month but like the song says " Every single time the Lord will provide." Our Father does have it and He isn't empty handed and He does give us blessings upon blessings.

07/06/2026

Another amazing month, thank You Lord. We broke all our old records in June by distributing 342 food boxes serving 796 people. It obviously is not good news that the number of people we serve continues to increase, but it is great news that the Lord provides the resources necessary to meet these needs. I woke up this morning feeling a little apprehensive about the future thinking and maybe even stressing a little about what will happen as our numbers continue to grow and how we will meet those needs. The answer is we won't, but our God will. I get a Bible verse and devotional thought every morning from YouVersion. Here is today's: " Being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord. The Lord will reward you for what you have done." Proverbs 19:17
Like lending to the Lord. Ok, so what do I have that the Lord hasn't lent to me? Get the drift here? God doesn't need us to take care of the poor, He could do it just fine without our help. But He wants us to be a part of the good work He is doing in the world so He invites us to take part in it. And then, when we take what He has lent to us and lend it back to Him as we care for the less fortunate among us, He blesses us for doing it. Only the Lord could be that gracious.
I don't know that this means God is going to bless you by lending you more stuff (I don't know that it doesn't) but I do know about the blessings of smiles and hugs and handshakes, and taking the time to listen to lonely people who just need someone to talk to, or having someone ask for prayer and having everyone at the pantry stop what they are doing and circle around that person as we pray. And I know the blessing of having folks come back with praise reports - you guys prayed for me or my spouse or a family member or a friend and God answered that prayer . The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. And we really try. But I would venture to say there's rarely a day that most of us don't leave feeling we have received far more than we have given

06/26/2026

The summer is off to a great start. We have given out close to 500 kids food boxes in June. Last year we gave out 700 over the summer and we still have two months left to go. Many more people are taking advantage of this opportunity to get breakfast and lunch for their kids while they are out of school for the summer. Sponsored by the Department of Education and USDA and administered in our area by Feeding Southwest Virginia, the Rural Non Congregate Feeding Program (it's official name) provides anyone from 1-18 with a box every week during summer break that contains breakfast and lunch for five days. There is no income limit to qualify because it's based on the area income rather than individual households. Home schooled children can also participate.
Boxes are distributed every Wednesday from 10 till 1 until school resumes and each child in the household receives one. But because of program regulations we can only give out boxes on Wednesdays from 10 to 1.
The Food Pantry is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 to 1 and from 4-6 on Thursdays and friends and neighbors can get a food box once a month. Several folks have asked about food delivery but we do not have the resouces necessary to do that at this time. But the transit bus comes by just about every day and will either wait for folks to get their food or drop them off and come back to pick them up.

06/01/2026

Two amazing months at Loaves and Fish. Gave out 295 food boxes in April and 294 in May, both times feeding over 700 of our friends and neighbors. At about $15 per box we could not have done this without our wonderful friends at Feeding Southwest Virginia in Abingdon who continue to bless us with reduced costs and even free items. We are also very grateful to a local store who has been donating to us through the Feeding Ameica Partner Pickup program. We went for several weeks without having to buy milk and had a number of frozen food items and a bunch of ice cream which we were able to share because of their donations.
Our kids program, the Rural Non Congregate Feeding Program starts this coming Wednsday (June 3). LIke last year we will be providing boxes with 5 breakfast and lunches in them while the kids are out of school. Folks can pick up a box every Wednesday for each child in the household from 1-18. The boxes will be given out from 10 to 1 on the left side of the church while the regular food pantry is operating on the right side. Last year we furinished 7,000 meals for kids over the summer and hope to do more this year.
If you haven't been for a while stop by and see us. Due to health issues and the loss of a spouse, we have had some turnover in volunteers over the past few month. Keith joined us back in the fall and manages dairy and frozen foods, Michael takes care of the canned and staple food and Rico helps folks connect with our free items. Most weeks on 2 out of our three open days, we an all male staff. Beth and Susan and Caden and Jennifer still volunteer on Wednesdays and we are totally blessed to have such an amazing group of dedlicated volunteers who love Jesus and want to share His love through serving others.

01/26/2026

Due to icy conditions in the parking lot Loaves & Fish will be closed on Tuesday January 27

Address

627 Glendale Road
Galax, VA
24333

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 1pm
Wednesday 9am - 12pm
5pm - 7pm
Thursday 10:30am - 12:30pm
4pm - 6pm

Telephone

+12767339238

Website

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