Holy Spirit Episcopal Church

The Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry is a joint venture begun in 2006 between our church and our Belmont neighbors, Assumption BVM Catholic Church.  The pantry is located at Holy Spirit, and is open one evening a week, on Thursday from 6-7:30 pm.  It operates as a satellite support pantry of North Kent Connect (NKC) (formerly North Kent Community Services), through Access of West Michigan.  Clients of NKC are welcome to use the food pantry.  For more information on becoming a client, call NKC at (616) 866-3478.  After hours, call NKC at (616) 866-3478 ext. 107 and leave a message, including full name and phone number.

As a Pantry of Choice, clients are assisted by volunteers to shop for the foods they like and will use.  The pantry is considered an emergency pantry, meaning each family will receive enough food for two to three days, based on household size.  Our pantry takes pride in offering healthy choices and fresh options and also offers personal care items.

Explore and Soar Reading Club, a program founded in 2008 for children in the second and third grades, is a four-day-a-week after-school reading program for students who score below grade-level on their school’s Fall reading assessment test. The Reading Club is modeled on the Youth Education for Tomorrow (YET) Center’s program in Philadelphia, and the United Way's Schools of Hope program. The Reading Club is free to students and is funded by grants, donations, and individuals, including church members.  The program is offered as a service of the Loaves & Fishes Family Center, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.  

As we begin our 11th year, we have helped children in northern Kent County to improve their reading level by an average of 1.5 years.  Students are referred by their teachers after the initial Fall reading assessments.  Eligible students are those who are struggling to meet grade-level expectations.

A paid, licensed teacher runs the Reading Program, supervising a paid assistant, and many volunteers. A typical 2-hour after-school session includes educational games, a teacher read-aloud that incorporates comprehension work, some writing, reading at the students’ independent and instructional levels, and celebrating their daily efforts.