Fraternity members serve up hot meals at Loaves and Fishes

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - Men of the Iota Upsilon chapter of Omega Psi Phi and other volunteers spent some time Saturday morning helping out at Loaves and Fishes in Biloxi, cooking and serving hot meals.

“We’re doing a community service project here for Loaves and Fishes so myself and the gentlemen and some women, we decided to come out and support the community,” said Chapter President Kelly Woods.

Woods was happy to see such a turnout on their first time volunteering at Loaves and Fishes.

“Well received,” he said. “They’re well received. Good to interact and the people express their appreciation for the work that we’re doing.”

Those who took part in the volunteer effort enjoyed that interaction.

"Any time we get a chance to come out and give back to the community, it's so fulfilling," said fraternity member Edwards Goldsmith.

Loaves and Fishes director Bryan Morales hoped it was the start of a new partnership.

“This is an awesome opportunity to get a new group of volunteers,” Morales said. “This is the first time this group has come in, so we hope to enrich that relationship where they can come in a couple more times throughout the 2019 year.”

Since the pantry relies on volunteers to run, a group like this is always encouraged.

“This has been a fun group. They haven’t been scared,” Morales said. “They’ve jumped in the kitchen. They’ve made salads. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do.”

For Woods, serving the community is an important aspect of what his fraternity does.

"It feels good," Woods said. "This is one of our cardinal principles of what we do. The uplifting of the community. So we do different projects throughout the year."

If you’d like to volunteer your time at Loaves and Fishes, you can send an email to Bryanmoraleslf@gmail.com for more information.

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