ABOUT US

Bread Break is a nonprofit organization focused on helping to solve hunger in the Sioux Falls Area.

History

Bread Break’s first food harvest occurred in 2011 when One Couple with One Van and One Cooler picked up prepared food from Kentucky Fried Chicken in Sioux Falls and delivered it to St. Francis House. Over time, the list of food providers increased, as did the number of nonprofit agencies receiving the food to feed to their members and guests. Additional volunteers were recruited to meet the increasing demand.

Today we have 25 volunteers and two vans that run regular routes of picking up and delivering food 7 days a week. We have 35 food providers and close to 30 nonprofit agencies receiving the food. The providers appreciate that Bread Break distributes their food to various non-profit agencies rather than just one agency.

Since Bread Break began, we estimate that we have harvested an average of 275,000 pounds of food a year. This equates to approximately 2.5 million pounds of food over the course of ten years , with a value of $1.67 per pound (feedamerica.org).

 

Impact

We impact the community in four ways:

1. Tax Break for Businesses
2. Reduction in Food Budget for Recipients
3. Matching Funds for Certain Recipients
4. Reducing the Waste in the Landfill

Bread Break tracks every pound of food it collects. Businesses can deduct those donations from their taxes at a value of $1.67/lb. Recipient organizations are then able to offset their budgets. In some cases, our relationship is so significant that those organizations can add staff and programming as they begin to rely on Bread Break efforts. And others are able to procure matching funds for the dollar value of the donations we provide. In the past one of the recipients was able to leverage our impact into a $152,000 grant from their national foundation. And, our final impact effects every citizen of the City of Sioux Falls by reducing the waste in the land fill. In 2021 Bread Break was a recipient of a Grant for the reduction in landfill waste. To date our impact has reduced the waste in the landfill by 2.5 million pounds.

 

Funding

Bread Break relies on donations and grants for income. While keeping our costs low and relying on multiple volunteers for day-to-day operations, we also rely on the generosity of charitable organizations and individuals to offset our costs. This is just a small sample of those who have participated in our mission:

  • Community Foundation Grant for an E-350 Cargo Van

  • Gift from the Thomas and Northdurft Families of a Ford Transit Connect Van

  • Down Home for the Holidays

  • Jerstad Family Foundation

  • The Members of Messiah New Hope Lutheran Church

  • Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

  • 100+MWC

  • Sioux Falls Facial Hair Foundation

  • Sioux Empire Fund for Hunger Relief of the SF Area Community Foundation. 

  • ELCA World Hunger Domestic Hunger Grant program.

  • Kevin and Karen Jergensen

  • Sanford

  • Avera Foundation

  • City of Sioux Falls Sustainability Grant

  • First Lutheran Church

  • Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

  • AVERA Tradition of Caring in KELOLAND Grant Award

 

Recognition

  • 2012 St. Francis House Instrument of Love Award

  • 2017  Spirit of Volunteerism Group Award sponsored by The Helpline Center

  • 2019 Sioux Falls Facial Hair Foundation Charity of the Year

  • 2019 100+ Men Who Care Donation Recipient

Today

We became a charitable organization under the IRS codes as of August 1, 2021. We have 13 board members and are always looking for more memberships. Doug Dreke is our current coordinator. He can be reached at 605-261-5396 if you would like to sign up to volunteer, receive food donations or be a provider of food.

Our Mission is growing, and we are looking for support in all areas to help with the food harvest opportunities.