Providing for others

Fish & Bread Project helps Axiom Sports and Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE — Fish & Bread Project held a Halloween Costume 5K, one of their projects to fundraise for the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center and Axiom Sports. Photo provided

Four years ago, a group of Liberty University students living on the Hill started a fundraising initiative called the Fish & Bread Project — and today, their efforts fund ministries both at home and abroad.

Both the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in Lynchburg and the Axiom Sports Christian camp in England are significantly supported by Fish & Bread’s fundraising today, but it all started with a simple dream.

Inspired by the story of Jesus feeding five thousand by multiplying a small offering of fish and loaves, Matt Short — the project’s current director — decided to start small.

“The purpose of the project was to challenge students to grow in their faith, by asking them to practice generosity through giving, serving, and praying for some local ministries,” Short said. “We asked each student to donate a dollar each week and pray a specific amount of time each week, and to serve these different ministries if opportunities came up.”

Over the four years since its inception, Fish & Bread has expanded far beyond simply asking students to give a dollar each on a regular basis. The project frequently holds ministry concerts to raise funds. In addition, their students participate in a 5K for the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in the fall, then in a second 5K organized by Fish & Bread in the spring.

Alongside general monetary donations, Fish & Bread has also been able to meet specific needs at the pregnancy center.

“We bought a Keurig coffee machine for the staff,” Short said. “And a couple years ago, we actually did a jacket drive for the center’s Mommy & Me boutique so that parents who need a jacket can get them there.”

Students who want to get involved are encouraged to attend the project’s ministry concerts and 5K races, but according to Short, the practice of small generosity does not begin and end with Fish & Bread.

“We have students that were involved with Fish & Bread, became youth pastors, and implemented the dollar-a-week giving with their students — they sponsor children in other countries, missionaries overseas and so on,” Short said.

The process of fundraising can be slow, monotonous and exhausting, but Short says there is nothing more rewarding than delivering a sizable check to the pregnancy center or Axiom Sports at the end of a year. Very often, Axiom responds with photos of their newly purchased sports equipment in use at camp, where the gospel will be shared.

Short hopes that even students who graduate, leaving Fish & Bread behind, will implement similar initiatives to make a difference wherever God leads them. His mantra is as basic as it is profound: “I can’t do something big by myself, but if everybody puts in a little bit, we can trust that Jesus is faithful to do something big with it.”

Genn is a feature reporter.