“Believing that all people in our community should be able to meet their basic hunger needs and that we are called to share our resources, Loaves & Fishes' mission is to provide groceries and support to people in crisis.” With this mission statement, Loaves & Fishes is fulfilling the dream of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church members who, in 1975, opened an emergency food pantry. One year later, Virginia Sampson, who had been orphaned at age three, raised by an uncle, and graduated from Queens College, responded to her pastor’s plea from the pulpit to “feed the hungry.” She had taken early retirement in 1976, for her health suggested she had not long to live. But live she did, for the next ten years, all of which were devoted to organizing, coordinating, and directing Loaves & Fishes. In this thirtieth anniversary year, 2005, the organization has a network of sixteen emergency food pantries, located throughout Charlotte. After careful screening, each client is sent to one of the pantries to receive a week's worth of groceries for his or her family. To prevent dependency, a client may visit a pantry only once in sixty days. Actually, most of the clients visit only once, to seek help in a time of acute crisis. A registered dietician has developed a list of groceries to provide a week's worth of nutritionally balanced meals. L & F is not a United Way agency, nor is it affiliated with any other regional or national organization. Funds come from individuals, churches, corporations, foundations, and various local drives, such as the Letter Carrier's Food Drive in May, a Thanksgiving food drive in the schools, the Charlotte Has Heart drive in February, and the CROP Walk in October. Donors of non-perishable food in non-breakable packaging, drop food at the pantry most conveniently located. In 2003, L & F sent twenty tons of food to laid-off employees of textile mills in Cabarrus County. In 2004, 500 volunteers helped with distribution of groceries to 60,240 people. The PUMC Weekday School introduced Ralph the Mouth, a collection bin, to PUMC several years ago. Local Missions provided a breezeway bin. The Wesley Men’s Sunday School Class regularly delivers PUMC food to a pantry.

PUMC History