2018 was a banner year for Oxford-Orion FISH in terms of feeding folks in need.

The all-volunteer, nonprofit group provided 186,953 pounds of free food to individuals living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships and their respective villages.

That’s 5,063 pounds more than in 2017.

“It’s the most we’ve ever distributed in the history of FISH,” said Julie Howald, the organization’s vice president.

FISH was founded in 1973.

Last year, the group gave groceries to an average of 170 households, or 394 individuals, on a monthly basis.

FISH also added 83 new families to its client base in 2018.

“We have been very busy,” said FISH President Laurene Baldwin. “We just pray that everything will keep going as is and we can keep everything flowing as well as we have been.”

In addition to supplying its clients with daily nourishment, FISH last year provided Easter dinners to 179 families, Thanksgiving dinners to 197 families, Christmas gifts to 170 children and backpacks filled with school supplies to 173 local students.

Since moving into its new 5,000-square-foot building on M-24, just south of Drahner Rd., in October, Baldwin said there’s been an increase in both donations and clients.

“The exposure has been wonderful,” she said.

Howald agreed. “Everyone realizes who we are now,” she said. “There used to be people who didn’t know who FISH was.”

Howald likes that folks no longer have to travel so far to reach the pantry. Instead of being near the Oakland-Lapeer county line, the pantry is now about a mile from the Oxford-Orion border.

“We’re so conveniently located for everybody,” Howald said. “I think it’s brought a lot more awareness to (people in) Lake Orion.”

FISH relies on donations to keep its pantry well-stocked.

According to Howald, a third of the organization’s food supply comes from Meijer’s Simply Give program. Customer donations to FISH under this program are matched by Meijer.

Another third comes from the three major food drives held each year. They are the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger drive in May, the Thanksgiving drive in November and the Orion Neighborhood Television (ONTV) drive in February.

The final third is derived from individual donations and money from the FISH budget.

There are numerous ways folks can support FISH throughout the year. One way is the Adopt-a-Shelf program, which allows individuals, families, churches, community groups and businesses to take on the responsibility of keeping a pantry shelf stocked with a particular product. The adopters can either purchase, deliver and stock the items themselves or donate about $100 per month to have FISH volunteers do it for them.

“It’s a wonderful way to help out,” Baldwin said.

According to Howald, 19 shelves have been adopted. “A lot of people are looking to set a good example for their children, so they do it as a family,” she said. “They’ll all come in and stock it together.”

FISH has a solid core group of volunteers, but it “can always use more,” according to Baldwin, to help during the big food  drives. That’s when people are needed to sort donations, check expiration dates and stock shelves.

“They can give an hour. They can give four hours. Whatever they want,” she said.

Folks’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and pitch in at the pantry never ceases to amaze Howald.

“It’s fantastic. We ask for help and we get it,” she said. “Everybody’s so generous. Everybody wants to help out. Everyone’s always calling and asking, ‘What can my church group do? What can my scout troop do?’”

FISH has “gotten so organized since the move” that Howald noted it’s difficult to find things for volunteers to do on a regular basis.

“(That’s) a really good problem to have,” she said.

Volunteers are welcome to help stock FISH’s shelves. Stocking hours are 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, and on the second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon.

The pantry is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month.

FISH’s office is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. For more information, visit their website or call (248) 628-3933.