New Milford’s Faith Church Announces 5-K Walk-A-Thon to Benefit Loaves and Fishes Building Fund

New Milford’s Faith Church Announces 5-K Walk-A-Thon to Benefit Loaves and Fishes Building Fund

New Milford, CT – Faith Church is sponsoring a 5-K Walk-A-Thon scheduled for Saturday, September 24th, 2016 from 8 am to 11 am on its grounds at 600 Danbury Road, New Milford, CT. Proceeds from the event will be used towards constructing the Loaves and Fishes Hospitality House’s new home, the Danny Straub Community Outreach Center, located at 25 Bridge Street, New Milford, CT.

“We are currently functioning as a soup kitchen , but as our name suggests, we would like to return to our roots -as a Hospitality House; a place where all have a chance to be accepted as part of a team and have a chance to flourish and grow” says President Lisa Martin. “We would like return to providing services that will offer the assistance people need to transition to independence. In order to do that we need a permanent place to call home and the support to maintain it, so we can continue to support and nurture the spirit as well as the body.”

While the group currently occupies space allocated to them by the town in the Richmond Center, use of that space is constricted and leaves the organization unable to expand its services beyond providing meal service for one hour each day. Furthermore, their current space is now needed for other use by the town, making it necessary for the group find a new home. The new facility, which had its groundbreaking on June 22nd, would meet its current goals as meal provider, as well as expand the organization into a full service center for the community - providing assistance with job search and readiness skills, and social service contacts and referrals (such as veteran’s organizations, catholic charities etc.), to those in need.

The need for these services is greater now than ever before. Currently, 6.8% (or over 1,800) of New Milford residents live at or below the poverty line and 13% of all children in the town live at or below the poverty line. In 2015, Loaves and Fishes served 15,204 meals, an increase of 4% from 2014. “Clearly, providing meals helps, but we recognize it’s not enough,” says Faith Church’s Connections Pastor, Al Coelho. “Supporting an organization that feeds, empowers and nourishes those in need to full independence benefits not just the individual, but our entire community. And that’s what the Danny Straub Community Outreach Center will do for the city of New Milford.“

For more information about the 5-K Walk-A-Thon, visit us at www.LFWalk.org. For more information about Loaves And Fishes of New Milford, visit their site at http://loavesandfishesofnewmilford.org/about-us.php.

Press Contact: Bea.Eriksen@faithchurch.cc 203-770-9333