A drive to collect food for needy families resulted in more than $15,000 of food donations and more than 200 families receiving hampers.The Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist Church announced yesterday that “Operation Five Loaves and Two Fish” was a huge success, surpassing its goal of helping 150 families.Project Coordinator Elder James Landy said yesterday: “The response from the community was tremendous. We saw people from all walks of life dropping off goods at the youth centre.“It was truly amazing.”Along with numerous personal donations, several businesses stepped up to the plate and donated food to the effort, including Market Place, BGA, Arnolds, Lindo’s, Butterfield and Vallis, Bermuda Longtail Real Estate and Citi Hedge Fund Services.At the launch of the drive last week, Elder Landy said that the initiative came about after the church, which offers food twice a week to needy individuals, began to see an increase in the number of families using the service.“It was originally intended for the homeless, but right now there are a lot of people who are out of work and who are struggling,” he said.Around 50 volunteers joined with members of the church yesterday to put together the more than 200 hampers, creating separate hampers for seniors and vegetarians.The group of volunteers laboured for four hours organising the 200 hampers in time for the 12pm scheduled giveaway.Less than an hour later, the hampers had all been given away, leaving the church hall with only empty cardboard boxes.One young mother, who asked not to be named, said: “I did not know what to do. My cabinets were bare. I’ve just been laid off.“I had nowhere to turn. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you.”Pastor Kenneth Manders described the effort, called “Operation Five Loaves and Two Fish,” as God’s love in action.“Today we provided an unprecedented number of families with hampers of food, over 200 in less than an hour.“In total, the Hamilton SDA distributed over $15,000 worth of food and sundries to families in need.“We are excited and blessed to know that we have met the needs of our community.”