Flint Hills Breadbasket Ribbon Cutting & Fundraiser
View photos, learn about their new location, and help Indivisible raise funds while stock is at the annual low point
On May 7th, the Flint Hills Breadbasket celebrated their ribbon cutting at the new location at 2326 Skyvue Lane. Attendees stood shoulder-to-shoulder in their enormous new store as Director Karla Hagemeister wielded the giant golden scissors.
Hagemeister is beloved by the community for changes she made as soon as she took over her role. The previous Director made it very difficult for citizens to qualify for food and toiletries, to the point that food spoiled on the shelves while families went hungry. Hagemeister lifted every requirement except residency in Riley County, which is a determinant for certain grants and programs.
Their previous location was so small that only three families could shop at a time, creating a bottleneck in the system. This often meant long wait times. The new location can accommodate up to 15 families at a time, making it easier for working families to access the resource.
The new location features multiple walk in refrigerators and freezers, a toiletries section, ample warehousing and storage space, offices, work areas, and a volunteer break area.
Enjoy this tour with Ryan, the Operations Manager:
While there is much cause for celebration, there is also still cause for concern. The Breadbasket gets the vast majority of their donations during the holiday season in November and December. By May, shelves are looking bare on an ordinary year. But this is no ordinary year: the Breadbasket has also been devastated by Trump Administration funding cuts, a worsening economy, increased demand, and rising inflation— with tariffs on the horizon.
The Breadbasket needs to be able to order 18-25 pallets each week just to keep up with demand— that doesn’t count building up stock to have on hand for higher demand cycles.
This month, Indivisible MHK is participating in a friendly little competition with First Congregational Church and Riley County Democrats to see who can raise the most towards feeding our neighbors. Nobody actually loses when we are all trying to help our community, but who doesn’t love a little rivalry? The winner will enjoy sassypants bragging rights, and we will all enjoy knowing that our neighbors have food on their tables.
To help us raise the most and sass the hardest, please donate directly to the Breadbasket, “in honor of Indivisible MHK.” In this way, we can meet their needs as quickly and directly as possible, and give them the flexibility to order exactly what they need, when they need it. Here is the donation form, and below is how to mark the donation as related to our fundraiser.
I started us off with a $100 donation and we have all month to compete. Many of us are members of more than one of these organizations, so I will also invite you to the Feed the Future fundraiser that the Riley County Dems are hosting tomorrow at 6:30pm at the Wefald Pavilion. They chose paying off student lunch debt as the beneficiary of their efforts. They are also collecting non-perishables to donate to the Breadbasket as well.
In addition, Saturday, May 10, marks the 33rd anniversary of one of America’s great days of giving — the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food drive. The USPS and NALC will kick-off the 2025 food drive. To participate, just leave non-perishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox Saturday, May 10, 2025, and your letter carrier will do the rest.
