Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes - Part I

Each month, I will be featuring a different non profit organization and encouraging you to support them with your time, donations, or spreading the word about them. For the month of January I will be talking about Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes!

Over Christmas, I was able to go on a tour of KLF and see what they are about. Their Communications Coordinator (and my best friend) Miss Kimberly Schoetzow gave me a tour and told me all about their organization.

 Here's what she had to say about her job:

"I originally took an interest in working at Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes because I wanted to be a part of a non-profit community organization. Kalamazoo is my home and Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes supports my home in a very basic yet crucial way. We practice non-judgmental values here – meaning anyone who needs food, can get food. That atmosphere of acceptance paired with my coworkers’ constant willingness to explore new ideas makes this a great place to come to every day."

Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes is a food bank "plus" that purchases and accepts food donations for people in Kalamazoo County, then distributes it in a few different ways:


Grocery Pantry Program: Distributes food to 26 local food pantries, all of which are run by volunteers

Mobile Food Initiatives: Gives people access to free food at seven different locations throughout the county--without registration or qualifications

Commodity Supplemental Food Program: Provides food to local elders, as well as mothers and their children in the community that do not receive WIC

Meal Support Program: Distributes food to local community agencies such as the YWCA

Weekend Food Pack Program: Provides food packs to local kids to help them get through the weekend

Throughout the month of January, I will be talking about all of these programs in more detail, as well as sharing photos with you from the KLF warehouse and their events!

One room of the KLF warehouse

SO, onto the fundraiser for KLF! For the entire month of January, I will be collecting food to donate. Sounds pretty simple, right?! The goal is to fill my entire car up with food for KLF by the end of January! I only have a Cavalier--I KNOW WE CAN DO THIS!

Please contact me if you are interested in making a donation, and we can arrange a time for me to pick it up!

Now I know some of my followers are far far away (Hi Travis!), so I encourage you to find your local food bank and donate this month! Generally, food pantries get all sorts of help during Christmas, but after that, food drives nearly come to a halt! Let's spread some love into 2011 :)

Be the change. Make the difference.