Our FISH Food "Village"

Our Monday Food Packing Team takes a break in the action.

Dear Friends of FISH,

The FISH mission, to provide help to our friends in Sonoma Valley, includes ensuring those in need of food receive a nutritious variety of both fresh and non-perishable groceries.

Have you considered how this happens? How the food gets from the grower, the warehouse, the donor, to the FISH Food Pantry and then to our friends? It takes a village. Read on...

The Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) provides approximately 80% of all food distributed from the FISH food pantry. In addition, the REFB recently donated a beautiful refrigerator to FISH. The additional cold storage has allowed us to keep more fresh food available for our clients.

The generosity of local farms including Paul’s Produce, Haystack, and Terraplane Farms supports FISH’s mission to provide quality, fresh produce. Our clients are delighted with the colorful bags of beautiful fruits and vegetables that accompanies their groceries.

Donations from throughout the Valley, including the annual community Scouting For Food and Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger food drives, help keep our pantry shelves full.

One of our regular donations comes from the Neighborhood Food Project. Our FISH friend, Laura Curran, has recruited neighbors to provide the FISH pantry much needed non-perishable food items.

Once the food arrives at the Food Pantry the teams of volunteers come together in a well orchestrated dance to sort, shelve and prepare food for distribution to our clients.

After the deliveries, donations, receiving, sorting and stocking are complete, the Packers, pack the nonperishable items to make sure we have twenty bags of nonperishables available each day.  FISH also has another packing team to pack the home delivery boxes for our twice a month home delivery program. 

Now we are ready to distribute and deliver food to our clients. To accomplish distribution at our Food Room, one Dispenser arrives about noon to consolidate the produce bags with the nonperishable items and add eggs, meat, margarine, bread and dessert.  The Dispenser of the day also checks to make sure there is a selection of surplus items along with potatoes, onions and other donated produce available for clients to add to their pre-packaged items.

The Tuesday Packing Team

For seniors in need who are homebound or otherwise unable to visit the Pantry for supplemental groceries, the FISH home delivery program can be a lifeline.  Home Delivery packers Louise Bielfelt and Carol Sharp prepare the 20 to 30 home deliveries by packing the nonperishables.   Hunt Sharp arrives early in the day to gather the perishable items and greet the volunteers,  who then "hit the road" with the groceries, and to make sure all packages are delivered.

Volunteers from Becoming Independent are a valued part of our Food Village.

Serving our community at our pantry four days a week, plus delivering to homes twice each month, the Food Pantry village at FISH is a well-coordinated team of 57 dedicated volunteers, working together to fulfill our mission, providing food to those in need.

For days and times of food assistance provided by FISH as well as other Sonoma Valley community organizations, visit our Community Food Calendar at fishsonoma.org.

- Lauren Scott, Food Room Manager and Sandy Piotter, Executive Director