Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Sept 4, 2024 2:20:42 GMT
Bread Line sees record numbers as Covid grant runs out - Published Sept 3, 2024
Members of the Carpenters Union Local 1243 were wrapping up a busy morning of volunteering at the Stone Soup kitchen on Gaffney Road when they presented a $5,000 donation to the Bread Line, which oversees the kitchen.
Union members rolled up their sleeves, donned hairnets and sanitary gloves and dished out breakfast to hungry Fairbanksans.
“We’re a community organization and take a lot of pride in what we do in the community,” said Liam Ward, the union’s president. “If we see a need like this, we do whatever we can to try and address it.”
The donation will help, along with others, as Stone Soup continues to see an elevated level of need, even as its Covid-19 pandemic funding lapsed, said Bread Line Executive Director Hannah Hill.
Bread Line received $300,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Recovery Fund. Hill said about $187,000 went directly to food purchases, while the rest went to winter-related hygiene supplies and programs.
Hill said shortly after the pandemic hit, the level of services at Stone Soup went up.
“Our numbers rose pretty quickly, faster than we were growing as an organization in terms of funding,” Hill said. Bread Line secured ARPA funding and received assistance from United Way of Tanana Valley, the Food Bank of Alaska and Fairbanks Community Food Bank.
Hill noted the funding came just in time as the state was slammed with a major backlog in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“It was just a wall,” Hill said. “We’ve never seen anything like that before.”
The Bread Line has seen a record 42% in need since the pandemic started. In 2022, Stone Soup served 47,795 meals. That number jumped by 24% to 59,581 meals served in 2023.
Stone Soup hit a record on Aug. 7 when it served 160 hot meals and 195 meals, the most on record in a 40-year run.
The soup kitchen first saw its need increase when summer started winding down.
“Usually we’re busier in the summer and slower in the winter times, but that October our numbers started going up and they just kept going up and up,” Hill said. “For all of last year, every single month, was the busiest that month has ever been in our 40 years of feeding Fairbanks.”
Hill said the people it serves attribute their individual needs to the backlog.
“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Hill said. “We’re seeing more families, more teens and more elders, people that were already marginalized and vulnerable are the ones that are always hurt first and worst in this.”
The Alaska Division of Public Assistance, which oversees the distribution of SNAP and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) funds to eligible recipients, faced a massive backlog for over a year. In some cases, it took 10 months to get a backlog cleared.
The state invested more than $70 million to overhaul its system, including a new online application system that launched in December 2023. Gov. Mike Dunleavy appropriated funding that allowed the division to hire an additional 30 employees.
According to federal data, Alaska’s SNAP program grew by 45% between March 2023 and March 2024.
Hill said the state did a yeoman’s job in trying to solve the problem, but its impacts will likely linger for the foreseeable future.
“It’s one thing to fix the paperwork and it’s another thing to recognize that humans got hurt and are continuing to be hurt because of that,” Hill said. “We can be grateful for the fixing of the issue and recognize that it doesn’t move as quickly with human beings.”
With the Covid-19 grant now empty, the Bread Line eyes the upcoming fiscal year with a $100,000 shortfall if it wants to continue its current level of service.
Dunlevy’s 2024 budget set aside a $1.5 million appropriation to create a food bank and pantry grant program, but details about the program and its funding haven’t been released yet.
Hill said Bread Line and Stone Soup continue to receive community support, something she said is essential since its services are free.
“We’re able to do what we do because Fairbanks believes in us every day that we feed people,” Hill said. “That’s because people in the community have donated their money and their time and their food to make that possible in this specific way.”
She added more community is always welcome, including regular monthly contributions.
“Even if it’s $5 a month, that allows us to be able to budget for such things,” Hill said.
Ward, the Carpenters Union president, said his members routinely volunteer when they can, including on union holidays such as Labor Day.
“Stone Soup Cafe is running record numbers of people they are helping, so every dollar is important to help feed the underprivileged in the Fairbanks area,” Ward said.
Stone Soup isn’t Bread Line’s only service. It also operates the Stone’s Throw culinary training program, the summertime Stone Soup Garden and the Kids Cafe, a monthly program held from September to May.
Bread Line employs seven people, including Hill, and has over 150 volunteers across all of its programs.
Stone Soup Cafe and the Bread Line are located at 507 Gaffney Road. Its food services are open 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Members of the Carpenters Union Local 1243 were wrapping up a busy morning of volunteering at the Stone Soup kitchen on Gaffney Road when they presented a $5,000 donation to the Bread Line, which oversees the kitchen.
Union members rolled up their sleeves, donned hairnets and sanitary gloves and dished out breakfast to hungry Fairbanksans.
“We’re a community organization and take a lot of pride in what we do in the community,” said Liam Ward, the union’s president. “If we see a need like this, we do whatever we can to try and address it.”
The donation will help, along with others, as Stone Soup continues to see an elevated level of need, even as its Covid-19 pandemic funding lapsed, said Bread Line Executive Director Hannah Hill.
Bread Line received $300,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Recovery Fund. Hill said about $187,000 went directly to food purchases, while the rest went to winter-related hygiene supplies and programs.
Hill said shortly after the pandemic hit, the level of services at Stone Soup went up.
“Our numbers rose pretty quickly, faster than we were growing as an organization in terms of funding,” Hill said. Bread Line secured ARPA funding and received assistance from United Way of Tanana Valley, the Food Bank of Alaska and Fairbanks Community Food Bank.
Hill noted the funding came just in time as the state was slammed with a major backlog in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“It was just a wall,” Hill said. “We’ve never seen anything like that before.”
The Bread Line has seen a record 42% in need since the pandemic started. In 2022, Stone Soup served 47,795 meals. That number jumped by 24% to 59,581 meals served in 2023.
Stone Soup hit a record on Aug. 7 when it served 160 hot meals and 195 meals, the most on record in a 40-year run.
The soup kitchen first saw its need increase when summer started winding down.
“Usually we’re busier in the summer and slower in the winter times, but that October our numbers started going up and they just kept going up and up,” Hill said. “For all of last year, every single month, was the busiest that month has ever been in our 40 years of feeding Fairbanks.”
Hill said the people it serves attribute their individual needs to the backlog.
“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Hill said. “We’re seeing more families, more teens and more elders, people that were already marginalized and vulnerable are the ones that are always hurt first and worst in this.”
The Alaska Division of Public Assistance, which oversees the distribution of SNAP and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) funds to eligible recipients, faced a massive backlog for over a year. In some cases, it took 10 months to get a backlog cleared.
The state invested more than $70 million to overhaul its system, including a new online application system that launched in December 2023. Gov. Mike Dunleavy appropriated funding that allowed the division to hire an additional 30 employees.
According to federal data, Alaska’s SNAP program grew by 45% between March 2023 and March 2024.
Hill said the state did a yeoman’s job in trying to solve the problem, but its impacts will likely linger for the foreseeable future.
“It’s one thing to fix the paperwork and it’s another thing to recognize that humans got hurt and are continuing to be hurt because of that,” Hill said. “We can be grateful for the fixing of the issue and recognize that it doesn’t move as quickly with human beings.”
With the Covid-19 grant now empty, the Bread Line eyes the upcoming fiscal year with a $100,000 shortfall if it wants to continue its current level of service.
Dunlevy’s 2024 budget set aside a $1.5 million appropriation to create a food bank and pantry grant program, but details about the program and its funding haven’t been released yet.
Hill said Bread Line and Stone Soup continue to receive community support, something she said is essential since its services are free.
“We’re able to do what we do because Fairbanks believes in us every day that we feed people,” Hill said. “That’s because people in the community have donated their money and their time and their food to make that possible in this specific way.”
She added more community is always welcome, including regular monthly contributions.
“Even if it’s $5 a month, that allows us to be able to budget for such things,” Hill said.
Ward, the Carpenters Union president, said his members routinely volunteer when they can, including on union holidays such as Labor Day.
“Stone Soup Cafe is running record numbers of people they are helping, so every dollar is important to help feed the underprivileged in the Fairbanks area,” Ward said.
Stone Soup isn’t Bread Line’s only service. It also operates the Stone’s Throw culinary training program, the summertime Stone Soup Garden and the Kids Cafe, a monthly program held from September to May.
Bread Line employs seven people, including Hill, and has over 150 volunteers across all of its programs.
Stone Soup Cafe and the Bread Line are located at 507 Gaffney Road. Its food services are open 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.