October

One question that comes up a lot is where does the money come from to support the Loaves & Fishes ministry and how can the ministry be sustained? Some of the money received are grants from organizations that support non-profit ministries such as our weekly hot meal ministry. We have received grants from Marshfield Hospital, Presbytery of Milwaukee, United Way of Dodge County, and Beaver Dam Community Foundation. We will continue to write grants and some of the grants we have received will renew each year.

We also receive donations from businesses and organizations, either monetary or items we can use. We also receive donations from individuals. We have a couple from First that donates money each month! For the meatloaf meal a group of people donated the 125 pounds of hamburger needed for the meal. We also had fundraisers this summer including two brat frys and a car wash. Fundraising efforts will continue. Much of the food used in the meals comes from Second Harvest, a nonprofit organization that “rescues” food, thus the name Second Harvest. Second harvest is part of a larger nonprofit called Feeding America. Second Harvest has a certain amount of food each week that we can order for free and other food items at reduced prices.

Most of the cost for food comes from the ingredients in the meal. For example, when making meatloaf we needed additional ingredients such as ketchup, brown sugar, breadcrumbs, and spices like nutmeg. Takeout containers are a weekly cost. We have a box in Friendship Hall with a list of items needed for meals and items can be placed in the box. Our Church partners are also collecting ingredient items!

We are excited knowing the Loaves and Fishes ministry can be maintained for years to come through grants, donations, fundraising, volunteers, and partnering with other people and organizations interested in feeding God’s children!

At the writing of this article, we have served seven meals which is 3,058 meals served to 1,299 households! If you have supported Loaves & Fishes in any way, including your prayers, we thank you!!