Walk into Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church any weekday after school and you'll likely find kids playing Scrabble, doing homework and working with about a dozen staff tutors and volunteers.

This is Loaves & Fishes, founded on a shoestring 25 years ago to help at-risk children develop academic and social skills during summer breaks. Since then, the Raleigh nonprofit has expanded into a year-round K-12 program with about 100 volunteers and an annual budget of nearly $400,000.

While not affiliated with any church or denomination, the program's unofficial mission is to "live by and teach Christian principles of love, compassion, understanding and forgiveness," said director Susan Duncan.

Duncan said the organization's diverse volunteer group is a key part of that goal. Volunteers range from high-school and college students to working professionals and retirees who do everything from teaching, mentoring and driving to maintaining computers and cooking.

Betty Jordan, a retired teacher, started volunteering with Loaves & Fishes 15 years ago.

"I enjoy working with children, I have gifts to share and I'm a Christian who wants to be able to give back to the community," said Jordan.

Program administrators steer children from bad influences and expose them to a cultural and academic setting they otherwise might not encounter. The program runs after school from 3 to 6:30 p.m. About half that time is dedicated to schoolwork; the rest helps the kids grow in other areas -- art, music, cooking, sports, health education, dance and community service.

"These children lack the financial and emotional resources to become successful academically and socially," said Duncan, a former volunteer who quit selling commercial mortgages in 2004 to head the program full time.

"It starts in kindergarten," she said. "These kids see pretty quickly that they're starting out behind the other students. When they struggle academically, they often develop social problems as well. We try to give them financial, emotional, physical and spiritual support that they need, as well as a knowledge of middle-class hidden rules, which really are hidden to them."

Almost all students who attend Loaves & Fishes are referred by teachers and school administrators. Some are well adjusted but many have trouble with either schoolwork or behavior, or both. Nearly all are from low-income households that lack amenities such as basic Internet access.

LaRon Massenburg, 14, of Raleigh recently chose to attend the program even though he was on spring break.

"I come here to get my schoolwork done," Massenburg said. "It's academic you know. We do basically everything a natural school does, except Loaves & Fishes gives more care to be yourself instead of just going through everyday life. I'm getting some help here."

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