Fishes and Loaves nourishes Logan community with free meals

Residents of Cache Valley gathered at the First Presbyterian Church in Logan for the monthly Loaves and Fishes community meal. Food was served by volunteers from varying civic and religious organizations free of charge from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The idea for the program was born when the locally-founded organization Global Neighbor held a community Christmas dinner at the First Presbyterian Church in Logan in December 2010.

“After that first dinner everybody felt like it was such a great experience that we wanted to be able to do it every month for people in need in the community,” said Amy Anderson, the contact person for Loaves and Fishes.

The monthly Loaves and Fishes community meal has been consistently held once a month from April 2011 on. Since then, many religious and community organizations have donated time or funds to the event. Beginning in May 2013, it will be held on both the first and third Saturday of each month.

A different organization is in charge of the meal every month, providing its own set of volunteers and gathering food, the majority of which comes from the Cache Food Pantry and the Logan LDS Bishop’s storehouse.

Emmanuel Baptist Church of Hyrum, Utah, organized this month’s meal.

Baptist Sandy Biggs volunteered at Loaves and Fishes for the first time today.

“It was humbling for me,” she said. “Most of us have so much.”

Amy Anderson, a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church who has been the contact person for Loaves and Fishes for a year and a half, said the event averages about 120 people per meal.

The meal is not merely an opportunity for residents to enjoy a free meal; it’s a place for members of the community to get to know one another.

“When we first started coming we thought this was a meal for people who were a little bit down on there luck and things like that, but it’s much more than that,” said Richard West, a member of the interfaith Cache Community Connections council. “It’s a real community celebration.”

The event hosts people of all different socio-economic statuses and backgrounds under one roof.

“Often those who have don’t always see those who have-not,” Anderson said. “And the great thing is it’s all ambiguous here what you’re in need of, if anything. You might have everything materially but have a hole in your heart and need that companionship.”

“People from all different kinds of life experiences come together and sit around the table,” West said. “We would say they break bread together.”

A member of the Loaves and Fishes board of directors, Kathy Chudoba said the warm environment is as big of a draw as the free food.

“The majority of the people who come need the meal,” she said. “And that many and more come for the sense of community and the sense of being welcomed and accepted.”

Several volunteers agreed that the meals strengthen the community.

“If anything sometimes feeding people in this kind of global spiritual sense is more important than actually feeding people the food,” Anderson said.

Michael Jarrett, a Mormon, has been to every Loaves and Fishes meal held for the past year.

“It feels good,” he said. Jarrett said he couldn’t imagine what it would be like if the event stopped happening.

When consistent attendee Gary Jones saw a paper announcement indicating that Loaves and Fishes will now be held twice a month instead of just once, he exclaimed, “Look at this! Aren’t we happy?”

For many of the volunteers, serving the community is a rewarding experience.

“Participating in this helps me see the breadth of people in Cache Valley and to feel more involved in the community,” Chudoba said. “One of the ways I practice my faith is through action. For me action and being here is a form of prayer.”

“It lifts me up every month when I volunteer here,” Anderson said. “That ability to get to know different faces in the community and to see people come back month after month and know their names and know that you’re making a difference.”

Lisa Hancock, the food coordinator for Loaves and Fishes and a member of the LDS Church, came to help prepare food alongside Baptist volunteers.

“It’s a great way for people who would never otherwise meet to get to know each other on the level where they see each other every month and become friends,” she said. “It really touches you.”