Carson City FISH dining room temporary closed due to mice issue; local chefs step in to help the hungry
UPDATE 6:30 p.m.: Peckham clarified that FISH has been aware of the pest issue, and were working with a pest control company who have now been fired; a new pest control management company was hired today. However, Peckham stated that the issue was fairly under control until about approximately one week ago when the mice population increased significantly.
He hopes to be able to reopen the dining room on Friday.
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According to FISH Executive Director Jim Peckham, the FISH Family Dining Room is temporary closed while professionals deal with a mice issue.
“Apparently a food box was delivered that had rodents in it, and they’re aggressive,” said Peckham. “We have an exterminator whose been working with us for a while, and before this, they’ve not seen any sort of rodent activity, but last week it just popped up crazier than ever before.”
FISH is in the process of following the different procedures needed to open their dining room back up to the community, but in the meantime, they have not stopped their mission of feeding those in need.
“We’ve been feeding people out of the conference room with meals that are made off site as we’re getting everything cleaned up,” said Peckham.
Those helping with the offsite meal creation include many local chefs and restaurants.
“We’ve got some really great restaurants and chefs around town helping to make that happen — Lady Tamale in particular,” said Peckham.
Peckham confirmed that no one had become sick or had any sort of issues with the rodents, and until now, they’ve received a 100 percent A-Grade from the Health Department each time.
“We’re hoping to be able to reopen the dining room soon, possibly in the next day or two, depending on procedure,” said Peckham. “It’s a really unfortunate situation and we’re doing everything we can to rectify it.”
FISH has been serving the Carson City community since May 1979, offering emergency shelter to those suffering homelessness, feeding those who are hungry, and is currently building dormitories for their FISH Revitalization Project, which will partner with Western Nevada College to provide college training to underemployed individuals.
To learn more about FISH, click here.