Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes

Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes provides food to needy people free of charge throughits Hot Lunch and Pantry Programs. Our programs alleviate hunger among homeless,elderly, and disabled individuals and low-income families residing in the PajaroValley. Many program participants are seasonally employed farm workers in localagriculture.During the holidays we provide bountiful boxes of chicken, ham, sliced turkey,pistachios, dried fruits, fresh vegetables, and hearty canned goods. Over 500households (about 2,000 individuals) receive boxes of holiday food. In total ourpantry provided more than 425,000 meals throughout the year.The Hot Lunch Program provided a complete noontime meal five days a week, includingholidays. The meals are freshly prepared on-site and include salads, vegetables,fruits, breads, meats, and other protein sources. USDA, the Food Bank, and otherdonors provide most of the ingredients. Approximately 25,000 meals were served tohungry individuals during the fiscal year, over 2,000 additional meals were served to staff, volunteers, and trainees, and we served almost 5,000 second helpings.Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes works closely with other agencies to provide accessto health care and mental health services, nutrition education, and application assistance for the MediCal and CalFresh programs to our clients. Representatives from the County Health Services Agency, Homeless Persons Health Project, Dignity Health Mobile Outreach, Community Action Board and Second Harvest Food Bank provide on-site outreach and services to participants in our food pantry and lunch programs. We also provide referrals to other social service agencies, such as immigration services and utility assistance, as needed.On-site volunteer opportunities are provided for students and adults to performcommunity service toward completion of a requirement for their school or for thecourt, or for personal fulfillment. In cooperation with several community agencies,we offer training placements for unemployed and under-employed youth and adultworkers, intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals, and adultstransitioning off of the CalWORKS program to aid trainees in acquiring skills andexperience to facilitate their re-entry to the workforce. Over 300 volunteersprovided more than 14,000 hours of volunteer service, equivalent to 7.0 full-timeemployees.