Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry
The Hershel "Buck" Buchanan Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry
1206 South Murray Avenue, Anderson
The Gospels tell the story of Christ using two fish and five loaves of bread to feed the 5,000. This image is reflected in AIM’s ministry of "Fishes & Loaves." We began by opening a small food bank in April of 1997 to provide non-perishable food items to the less fortunate of our community. Early in 2004 our pantry operation was expanded when we moved into our current home in a large warehouse facility next door to the original location. This expansion made it possible for us to better serve the community. We now have the capacity to accept perishable as well as non-perishable food items, no matter the size of the donation.
Food Pantry Hours
Monday – Friday
9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.
Operating on a first-come, first-served basis, we assist an average of 40 families each morning.
Second Tuesday Each Month 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
By appointment only for pre-approved persons whose daily medical, work or school hours conflict with our hours of service.
The following items may be needed in order for us to properly document your visit:
- VALID Photo ID
- Social Security Card for each household member
- Verification of residency (utility bill)
Ways YOU Can Help
- Donate items from our most-wanted lists.
- Donate the free items from a "Buy One Get One Free" sale.
- Plan a food drive at your church, school, business, neighborhood, or civic club.
- Recruit your group to become a monthly donor of one of our most wanted items each month.
- Donate your plastic grocery bags...we use LOTS of these.
- Plant a row in your garden for the hungry and donate the produce you grow.
- Volunteer your time in the pantry! We need help inventorying, processing and stocking donations.
- Clip coupons and donate them for pantry clients.
|
Most Wanted Non-Food Items
|
Helpful Tips For Planning a Food Drive
- Plan ahead... elect a leadership committee to plan your strategy and theme.
- Determine…the start date and length of your drive.
- Set a goal...decide how many pounds or items you want to collect. An easy way to do this is to set a goal for each participant and multiply this figure by your total head count. If your group or company has a competitive spirit, you may want to develop some sort of award structure for amounts collected.
- Contact...AIM to let us know about your plans so that they can help you with your questions or needs and to coordinate event and delivery dates.
- Get management involved...if your food drive is being held at work, encourage executives to show their support by sending email, voicemail or letters.
- Ask…your company to match employee donations. For example, your company might give $1 for each pound of food raised.
- Challenge…a participant to perform an outrageous activity if your goal is met.
- Promote your drive…organize a kick-off event to build enthusiasm. Build the event around your theme.
- Hand out… shopping lists of most needed foods. AIM can tell you what they need from season to season.
- Display… weekly or daily totals in high-traffic areas or announce totals using email or newsletters to keep people up to date and involved.
- Build awareness and visibility… Invite participants to tour and sort food at AIM’s Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry. Contact us to schedule this.
- Publicize… your food drive and final results in your company or school newspaper.
- Make it fun… and simple for others to participate - Place grocery bags for collection at every entrance or employee/student desk.
- Hold an event… (a dance, sporting event, party, or concert) and charge a can of food for admission.
- Sell... "dress-down” or "casual dress day" passes to your employees in exchange for donations.
- Encourage financial contributions... set a separate financial goal from pounds raised.
- Utilize... exciting competitions and creative themes. Create competitions with lots of categories – largest individual donation, most protein, most unusual food or match your weight with pounds of food.
- Designate days... Macaroni Mondays, Tuna Tuesdays, Salmon Sundays or Peanut Butter Week to encourage donations of high protein foods.
- Encourage... groups, buildings, departments or classes to challenge each other to a competition.
- Celebrate your success! Host a wrap-up party recognizing participants and rewarding competition winners with humorous prizes.
AIM is a member of Golden Harvest Food Bank, a certified member of Feeding America.