Fish 'N Loaves feeds the hungry in North Davis County

Courtesy photos/Mitch Eiting

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Davis County Boy Scouts collect food for this annual food drive. Food banks and pantries rely on their annual food drive to fill food banks in Davis County. Courtesy photos/Mitch Eiting

LAYTON — Fish ’N Loaves is an ecumenical food bank that provides emergency food to people in need in North Davis County.

The food bank has been in operation since the late 1980s and was founded by St. Rose of Lima Parish in Layton, Layton Hills Baptist Church and Clearfield Community Church. Other church organizations have joined, including Mountainview Baptist Church, Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church and New Hope Fellowship Church.

"We realized there was a need among the non-Mormon churches because they are small and don’t have the facilities by themselves to help families in need," said Barbara MacPeek, director and member of Layton Hills Baptist Church. "The Mormon church relies on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Bishop’s Warehouse for food, but if they help families, they also want them to attend their services. We felt that if the non-Mormon churches joined together we could provide assistance for families without any strings attached. We simply show them God’s love without proselytizing. We help all races and faiths by taking their name and other information and any special needs they may have and deliver food to them within 48 hours. Deliveries are made from a list of about 40 volunteers.

"The program has grown significantly since we started and has more than tripled over the years," said MacPeek. "Clients receive food by contacting one of the participating churches."

"In 2011, over 2,600 people were served in 685 deliveries," said Rosemarie Schoof, a volunteer from St. Rose of Lima Parish. "We’re here to help those who have recently become unemployed, or for some reason can’t feed their family. Clients are eligible to receive food once every three months unless there are extenuating circumstances that prevent them from getting food.

"We give them enough food to last four days while they wait for money to buy food or wait for their food stamps," said Schoof. "We provide them with canned food, bread, meat, hot dogs, butter or margarine, eggs and milk in addition to dry goods such as cereal and rice. We also have diapers available that we receive from Kimberly Clark Corporation in North Ogden."

Families with emergency needs are helped and given information to seek help if their needs are going to be long-term, said MacPeek. "Fish ’N Loaves primarily receives food from the Boy Scout Food Drive and from donations from each church. The perishable items are purchased with money donated from the various churches. We also receive food from the Davis County Food Bank when our supply runs low, or we purchase items such as tuna fish and peanut butter when we’re in need."

If you would like to make a donation, call Saint Rose of Lima Parish at 801-544-4269.