By Ruth Melville
Photo by C. J. Sosna

Since 1992, the Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry in Canaan has been abiding by its motto, “Feed the community you want to live in.” The pantry, part of the mission of the North Canaan Congregation Church, serves 70 families a week, mostly from Canaan, but they also welcome residents of Falls Village and Norfolk.

Located in Pilgrim House, on Granite Avenue, Fishes & Loves is open Wednesday mornings from 9 to 11, and Tuesday evenings from 5 to 7. The evening hours were added recently to accommodate people who work during the day. The new time slot has proved to be very popular, sometimes attracting even more people than on Wednesday.

Louise Riley took over as director of Fishes & Loaves Pantry just over a year ago. She is the only paid employee; the rest of the staff are all volunteers. Riley explains that

Fishes & Loaves is part of the network of the Connecticut Food Bank, with whom they place an order every week. The range of items on offer varies, but the supplies always include staples like meat, produce and milk. Some of the items are free to the pantry, others are available at low cost. Riley says they particularly try to get as much fresh produce as possible. Fishes & Loaves’ typical weekly order is in the $200 to $300 range, part of their annual budget of about $20,000.

The Canaan Stop & Shop, only a few blocks away, is a donor store for the state food bank program, and Fishes & Loaves volunteers go there about three times a week to pick up food, including fresh breads and pastries. “We rely on Stop & Shop,” Riley says, “and it was tough at first during the strike,” although the union soon decided that food bank volunteers could cross the picket line. Local organizations, businesses, farmers and individuals also donate both food and money to the food pantry.

The State of Connecticut tracks information about the clients who come to its food banks. The state assumes that one person, on one visit, can get enough food for 9 meals. By that formula, Fishes & Loaves provided 71,629 meals in 2018. 

Fishes & Loaves takes up several rooms on the ground floor of Pilgrim House. 

The wide range of available food includes meats, vegetables, baby food and canned goods. The pantry has two refrigerators and seven freezers, several of them packed with meat. All the food, and an assortment of household supplies, are neatly displayed on tables or stored on shelves built by volunteers from Mountainside, an alcohol and drug treatment center in Canaan. 

Other rooms contain clothes for babies, children and adults, all meticulously folded or put on hangers and for sale at a minimal price. Everyone, not just pantry clients, is encouraged to shop there, and proceeds go to buy items like diapers and wipes for the pantry. 

When the food pantry is open, Pilgrim House is a busy and bustling place. To operate smoothly and efficiently, Fishes & Loaves depends on a team of dedicated volunteers. Riley says that several of the Mountainside volunteers, and others from a local sober house, have become quite involved in their work at the pantry. “It’s been a wonderful partnership,” she says.

In addition to the food pantry, Pilgrim House has a good-sized community hall with a commercial kitchen that the church rents out for scout meetings, karate classes, meetings of nonprofits and private parties. Community dinners are also held there. Last November there was a Thanksgiving dinner with 20 donated turkeys, and volunteers delivered meals to shut-ins. 

But Pilgrim House desperately needs repair, and Fishes & Loaves is facing a crisis. Last winter the pantry had to accept a loan from the North Canaan Congregational Church to repair a leak in the roof, but in reality it’s the entire roof that needs fixing, which will cost about $50,000.

To be able to fix the roof, and make other much-needed repairs to the building—including making the entrance and restrooms accessible, repairing the parking lot and making the building more secure—Fishes & Loaves is starting a capital fund-raising campaign. The campaign kicks off on Saturday, June 1, with an evening of wine, snacks and live music at Pilgrim House. Call 860-824-7232 to buy tickets, or email at fishesandloavespantry@gmail.com.

As Riley notes, many people in the area rely on the food bank to feed their families. “It is extremely important that people have access to this.”