Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry & Kitchen

Founded in 1989, Loaves and Fishes is a community-based organization dedicated to alleviating hunger among working poor families, migrant farm workers, and elderly, disabled and homeless individuals of the Pajaro Valley. We help sustain the lives of thousands of individuals by assisting them with nutritious food, education and referrals in cooperation with other agencies. Our Pantry Program provides supplement groceries to individuals and families in need. We receive groceries from a variety of sources including local growers and packers, community food wholesalers and retailers and the Second Harvest Food Bank. Acquisitions are made through a combination of donations and purchases. The Pantry is open every weekday morning, Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 11:30 am and in the afternoon for emergency referrals from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Families and individuals in our service area are permitted to receive groceries twice per month. Our primary service area is the neighborhoods of Watsonville, west of Main Street. We also provide emergency food assistance to those referred to us by the Community Food Hotline. Pantry clients receive non-perishable foods, bread, fresh produce, and frozen vegetables. The amount of food allocated varies by family size. We are a host site of Second Harvest's Food For Children program. Families with children receive additional food through a monthly on-site distribution. We serve a nutritious hot Lunch every Monday through Friday at Noon. Each meal is prepared on-site in our certified, health department-inspected kitchen by our Executive Cook - a Certified Professional Food Manager - with the assistance of community volunteers