The Bread Line

In 2023, The Bread Line served 59,581 meals from its downtown soup kitchen, The stone soup cafe- an astonishing 25% increase over The year prior. To help meet this need, The Bread Line received 65,067 pounds of locally donated food. Much of this food came from The fairbanks community food bank and The fairbanks memorial hospital as well as The ongoing generosity of individual donors from The fairbanks community. The Bread Line also supplements daily food needs by growing produce in its downtown community garden during The summer months. The stone soup cafe gives out free, chef-prepared meals five days a week, every week of The year, regardless of holiday or inclement weather. In 2023, volunteers put in 2,731 hours of their time to make sure The Bread Line met its mission of "feeding people & affirming lives. "The stone soup community garden again met its rolling goal of growing enough food to provide nutritious, locally grown produce to share with food insecure fairbanks residents & other local nonprofits - including meals on wheels & several downtown assisted living facilities - on top of The Bread Line's own anti-hunger programs. With The help of The folk school, The garden also was able to build a half dozen new beds, to expand into during The 2024 season.

Stone's throw, The Bread Line's culinary job training program, launched a new adult class in 2023. It was well-attended & The students had 100% employment post-graduation. This new four-week fall baking program is in addition to The regular eight-week spring program. Stone's throw also taught culinary arts inside both The detention & treatment wings of The fairbanks youth facility as well as hosting a winter holiday banquet with The incarcerated youth & their families. In The summer, stone's throw chefs gave culinary instruction with calypso farm's "community roots" youth job training program. They also provided monthly cooking demonstrations at one local farmers' market & cooked monthly free community meals at another.