The History of FISH
FISH in Williamsburg began as a small volunteer effort inspired by a 1969 Reader’s Digest article titled “A Friendly Neighbor Called Fish” which described the grassroots efforts of an Anglican minister and his congregation near Oxford, England.
Ling Ngo was inspired by the article and started a similar group in Newport News, Virginia. When Ling and her family moved to Williamsburg in 1974, she founded the first FISH volunteer group in 1975 with the help and encouragement of Sister Nancy Lyndon and St. Bede’s pastor, Father Anthony Warner. The volunteers initially handled a few calls per month. Services offered were food, clothing, hot meals, emergency babysitting, transportation, and occasionally, overnight lodging.
By 1982, requests for help had escalated, and the original volunteers found that other churches were also trying to meet such needs; a coordinated effort was established. One was a Covenant between FISH and Ecumenical Outreach Ministries (E.O.M.) and was a pledge of solidarity between these two service organizations. Each organization would retain its name and board of directors. E.O.M. would offer screening services for requests for money for fuel and utilities. Food and clothing requests would be met from FISH as well as auxiliary pantries at E.O.M. and Hickory Neck Episcopal Church. Members of the clergy, volunteers from E.O.M. and FISH, and many community service workers joined in a beautiful service to commemorate their covenant at the church on Jamestown Island in September 1982. The covenant pledged our faith and prayer support as we joined in serving the poor and needy in Williamsburg.
The FISH food pantry’s first homes were in the St. Bede rectory basement and later in a room in St. Bede’s parish center. When St. Bede could no longer host the pantry, in 1987, the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists provided space in the Fahs house, their newly purchased property on Ironbound Road. The pantry remained there until its move to the Historic Triangle Building in 1995.
The FISH clothes closet also moved between many locations. The first clothes closet was in a volunteer’s home. Later, Williamsburg Baptist Church on Richmond Road provided the first church location. When the need for more space grew, the clothes closet relocated and expanded into a house at the corner of Burns Lane and Jamestown Road owned by the First Church of Christ, Scientist. When the church was ready to raze the house for new construction in 1994, the Historic Triangle Building was ready for use.
FISH provided free transportation to medical appointments for at least 30 years. The transportation program began with a group of Friends in the Quaker community in Williamsburg who offered rides to medical appointments for those without other means. In early 1985, FISH joined their initiative.
Calls for transportation requests came into an answering service during the early days, and later came into the FISH phone line in Registration. The Transportation coordinator then contacted one of the 12-15 volunteer drivers to arrange transportation for the client. The FISH transportation service was moved into the Peninsula Agency on Aging’s RIDES program in 2015.
FISH incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1992, becoming a free-standing agency, still staffed solely by volunteers.
In 1995, FISH moved to the Historic Triangle Community Services Center on Waller Mill Road, which was created by donations from local governments, churches, civic organizations, businesses, and hundreds of individuals. Now clients could choose their own clothing and pick up their food.
The COVID-19 Pandemic was an especially challenging time for FISH. While the Board kept FISH open as long as it could, many factors contributed to the eventual closing in March 2020. Because we were left with food in our Pantry, we decided to donate to St. Olaf’s Food Pantry, Salvation Army, and House of Mercy. Many of these organizations have paid staff and remained open.
FISH reopening in the Fall of 2020 was gradual and focused on the safety of our volunteers and clients. Our volunteers masked, used sanitary wipes, and took forehead temperatures. The guidance was constantly monitored and relaxed as the understanding of how the virus spread evolved.
FISH reopened on a limited schedule with a “no contact” form of food distribution. We also stopped taking donations of food and clothing to limit risk to our volunteers. It quickly became difficult to find volunteers for the Pantry. Another major problem was that the supply chain dried up. Grocery stores would no longer fill our orders. FISH purchases from Food Lion were limited to only what they had extra. Boxed.com was used to buy unavailable food with limited success. To limit contact, masked Pantry volunteers filled the bags and brought the shopping cart to the clients in the parking lot. Sanitary wipes were used to wipe down the cart after each delivery.
Clothing volunteer safety did not allow us to accept used clothing donations. Beginning October 2020, clients requesting clothing were helped on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment only and only one person at a time. Both the client and clothing volunteer wore masks. Once health guidance indicated that it was safe, clothing and food donations were once again accepted, using the clothing donation door.
In March 2022, during the final stage of the pandemic, FISH moved to its current location at 312 Second Street in Williamsburg. The new location has separate food and clothing buildings to better serve our clients. It also has, through a grant, enabled FISH to expand the refrigeration equipment to store more meat and vegetables for our clients.
Our Second Street campus is in a more visible location, increasing community awareness of our services.
From a tiny group of volunteers serving one or two people a week, FISH has grown to over 250 volunteers caring for the emergency needs of thousands of people a year who live in James City County, the City of Williamsburg, and the Bruton District of York County. FISH depends entirely upon a caring community for food, clothing, household items, and financial donations. We have no paid staff. Volunteers elect a twelve-member Board of Directors, and the Board elects its officers and coordinators. Volunteers come from all walks of life in the community, and we never forget that we are “neighbors helping neighbors”.
The 50th Anniversary History Committee
August 28, 2025