CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Loaves and Fishes hosted tours Saturday of their new facility at 825 Crossland Ave. The building is not quite ready yet to be open to the community, but volunteers and supporters were invited to see the progress on the organizations new home.
Executive Director of Loaves and Fishes Dr. Rita Burnet, said the new building is 15,600 square feet, and they are excited because they will be able to serve more clients and more hungry people.
Before the pandemic Burnett said they were serving 85-100 people each day and since COVID-19 that number has risen to over 100 and they are seeing more children. With the move to Crossland Ave. they expect that number could double to around 200 individuals per day.
Their current location is at the First Presbyterian Church Activities Center on Foster St. They are serving lunch six days a week and on Saturday each person is given a bag lunch of nourishing food items for Sunday. Burnett said they hope to be able to expand to a lunch on Sunday sometime in the future.
“Because we have this beautiful spacious facility, we’re going to be able to maybe have dining room services when we open up so our clients and guests can come and have lunch inside in our dining room in an atmosphere they love,” Burnett said.
Some of the amenities the new facility will feature is a state-of-the art kitchen, a large gathering space, multi-purpose rooms for training and classes, and a resource kiosk for information on day-to-day life skills, just to name a few.
Loaves and Fishes were originally looking at January 1, 2021 for the opening of the new facility, but Burnett said it may be possible to start serving clients in dining room style right after Thanksgiving.
Burnett said as always, Loaves and Fishes is accepting both monetary and food donations, and with the larger facility they are also looking for more volunteers.
For more information visit loavesandfishestn.org, go to their facebook page, Loaves and Fishes of Clarksville or call 931-648-9020.
