Even though Ash Wednesday is still a couple of days away, some area churches are beginning Fish Fry dinners tonight.
But, fundraising is a bit more of a challenge this year as prices for supplies have skyrocketed this year. Debbie Zbuckvich coordinates the fish fry at St. Conrad’s in Meridian and she says they unfortunately had to raise the price for a dinner by a dollar up to $13 per meal.
“I didn’t want to raise the price at all, until when we put our order in for our supplies. Just for example, the take out container for the dinners doubled in price. It went from $62 per case to $122 per case,” Zbuckvich said.
She says the price of fish also went up significantly, along with other things like oil.
However, she says despite the increases there will still be plenty of fish available.
“I know people were all worried that there may be a fish shortage. But, we checked with our supplier and he said we’ll definitely have the fish available. We’re glad about that, but the cost of everything has gone up.”
Zbuckvich adds that sponsors have helped offset some of the added costs the church has taken on with the dinners this year. She also expressed disappointment that some fire departments won’t be able to do their fish dinners this year due to the rise in prices.
St. Conrad’s is doing take out only again for dinners this year.