When Adam Whitney gave his sister Rachel von Niederhausern and a birthday gift of paperwork, to organize a nonprofit, the Logon Loaves and Fishes community meal, it became a gift that has kept on giving. And one she will never forget.
RACHEL VON NIEDERHAUSERN: You and I had kind of been talking about doing a humanitarian trip or trying to find ways to help people in need. And, and I was so touched and so surprised, that was a gift that you gave me actually, that really set me very firmly on the path to do humanitarian work, it was so unexpected, we didn't know what we were doing or anything, you know, when did the kind of Loaves and Fishes ideas start for you?
ADAM WHITNEY: Talking about some of those ideas with you, and how, you know how we could get involved with the nonprofit or, or potentially start one, at least for me, I was really initially looking for someplace to serve and contribute around Christmas time, and maybe even on Christmas day itself. What about you?
RACHEL VON NIEDERHAUSERN: You know, I would notice people growing up people who are lonely or going to Utah State where there's a lot of people who are away from home and might be have lived internationally, you know, might need -- need a place to go over the holidays, or who might not have their family around, really started, you know, working in my heart, just like yours and kind of was the beginning of this Loaves and Fishes vision.
ADAM WHITNEY: Did not actually envision Loaves and Fishes as it is today,
RACHEL VON NIEDERHAUSERN: We thought the need was going to be to be giving food to people in need. And of course, in gathering people to feel like a family dynamic at Christmas; to feel loved. And to feel this nourishment, you know, for their body and their spirit. And their heart. Then that first Christmas, we had, I think over 200 volunteers who said they wanted to come serve, and we maybe had you know, 20 people who came to actually eat the food.
ADAM WHITNEY: It was, yeah it was kind of crazy, we just said "Come and serve. And we don't know if we're gonna have anybody to serve, but go ahead and come" and but it was amazing because it was the... the first step into them growing into what it is today where we serve 200 plus people every mea. I think just taking that first step and going from there was I think the part about you know, the Loaves and Fishes that I really enjoy the most. You saw this, this need for people to you know, to want to come and serve. And you think of that as a need that that people have is connection and serving, which is a little bit different than how we often think about need, right of needing: needing food, needing shelter needing more material things. What do you think drives that, you know, where does that need to serve come from?
RACHEL VON NIEDERHAUSERN: We need the ability to give back and to see people who... who might not have you know, all the comforts of life or the things that they might want or need and then having the ability to serve them and to give back so. Yeah, I think it fulfills that need for connection.
ADAM WHITNEY: You know, people have come forward from a lot of different groups and, and backgrounds and you know, how everyone wants to just help and pull together to serve and do something.
RACHEL VON NIEDERHAUSERN: Yeah, definitely. And we just, of course have to say thank you to all the people at Loaves and Fishes who have helped it grow and have been there day in and day out for over a decade. It's just these people are seriously angels on earth like true, true saints in the truest sense of the word. So thank you. Thank you to everyone.
