North Charlotte Today

When it comes to helping the needy, ensuring they have food is one of the priorities. It's certainly one that Loaves & Fishes has been providing. 

Now, with COVID-19 relief money, the Charlotte-area nonprofit is expanding its services to set up an online grocery program.

Earlier this month Mecklenburg County announced where some of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aid dollars will be going, a Sunday WBTV news report said. Loaves & Fishes will receive $3 million from the pandemic stimulus package.

"If we can feed over 15,000 people three days a week, think of the amount of people, the volume we can feed five or six days a week," Danielle Moore, the agency's Community Outreach director, told WBTV. "So that's what that 3 million is going to go toward." 

The set-up will allow people to go online and make selections of the foods they want. After that, volunteers pack up the groceries and can deliver them.

"A lot of our clients are dealing with so many burdens," Moore said. "So this just takes the pressure off a little bit more. It gives them peace of mind to know that they're going to have food right at their door."

One of the challenges with giving clients pre-packed boxes is that they might get food they don't like. While the nonprofit would like to think the people would in turn share the food they don't want with others, some of it likely gets tossed.

Moore said the new platform is a welcome option that differs from their pre-made box in that it allows families to choose their food based on their diets, health conditions and family size, which cuts back on possible food waste.

In 2021 Loaves & Fishes provided a week's worth of groceries to almost 77,000 people, the agency's website said. It also delivered more than 117,000 prepared meals through their Friendship Trays.