World Central Kitchen’s Chef José Andrés says: “Food is hope, food is dignity, food is empathy. Food is community, food is family, food is caring. Food is nourishment & food is resilience. Food is building longer tables.” Right now, Fairbanks needs a longer table. 

The Golden Heart Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, is helping the Bread Line build a longer table through a generous grant to purchase food!

Food insecurity, as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, is when people do not have enough to eat & don’t know where their next meal will come from. More than 47 million people – including 14 million children – experience food insecurity every year in the United States. However, there are millions more Americans who do not meet the official criteria of food insecurity but also rely on the charitable food network for their daily nutrition needs.

The Bread Line is seeing more families, teens, veterans & seniors – all people who are already marginalized in our community – on top of our regular patrons. It’s more people more often & every single human who comes through our door deserves to eat every single day. People who do not have secure access to nutritious food are more likely to experience chronic health conditions like diabetes & heart disease; have increased risk for depression, stress, anxiety, & social isolation; as well as not being able thrive at work or school. Many of the people we serve have serious mental health issues &/or addiction issues. The consequences of hunger are wide-reaching, harming families & individuals alike. Fairbanks suffers when hunger is what’s being served.

The Bread Line keeps vulnerable Interior Alaskans nourished & connected to community. We will serve over 60,000 meals in 2024. The Stone Soup Cafe serves roughly 400 unique individuals annually. Every day, we provide good food – & a safe place to eat it – to people with nowhere else to turn. With the Golden Heart Community Foundation’s funding, we will be able to meet the need where it’s at & continue our long record of high-quality service to Alaskans in crisis this year.

Thank you, Golden Heart Community Foundation, for stepping up & helping the Bread Line meet its mission of “feeding people & affirming lives.”