Photo by jill russell
VOLUNTEERS FROM FIFE’S FISH FOOD BANK GATHERED FOR A CELEBRATORY BREAKFAST ON JAN. 12 at Johnny’s of Fife.
Volunteers in the community gathered over breakfast to celebrate another year of giving back.
About 40 members from the Fife, Milton and Edgewood chapter of the FISH food bank gathered for a breakfast at Johnny’s of Fife restaurant to highlight their accomplishments during the past year. Breakfast organizer and FISH volunteer Fred Mitchell told the group that this year the amount of people seeking help was record-breaking.
“We served over 7,000 people this year,” Mitchell said. “That’s up about 20 percent from last year.”
This was the highest number of people served since the group started keeping records.
“It’s really sad that many people needed assistance this year,” Mitchell added. “But it’s also great because we were there to help them.”
In two days, food bank volunteers served about 470 people during the Thanksgiving holiday and served more than 430 people during the Christmas holiday.
Throughout the year, volunteers have worked almost 3,000 hours at the food bank and have distributed just under 100,000 pounds of food to families throughout
Fife, Milton and Edgewood.
Like many other food banks in the area, Mitchell noted that the food bank’s supplies dwindle, especially during spring and summer. The food bank has partnered with Emergency Food Network (EFN) to purchase reduced price food in bulk when their stock gets low, Mitchell added.
Notable donations made this year to Fife’s FISH food bank came from the students of Fife High School, who raised about $6,000 and donated more than 9,000 food items. The students of All Saint’s Elementary School in Fife raised $1,000 in pennies for the food bank. Mitchell commended all the food bank donors this year for their contributions.
“Just wanted to thank you for helping to make us possible,” Mitchell said. “No donation is too small.”
Fife’s FISH food bank is located at 2003 54th Ave. E., in Fife. The hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:30-3 p.m. Those seeking donations must call (252) 922-0960 between 9:15 a.m. and noon to set up an appointment before requests can be filled.
Commenting rules
Fife Free Press is happy to provide a forum for commenting and discussion. Please respect and abide by the house rules:
Keep it clean, keep it civil, keep it truthful, stay on topic, be responsible, share your knowledge, and please suggest removal of comments that violate these standards.
Read full commenting rules