The Breadline soup kitchen was vandalized just after 5:00 am Monday when a rock was thrown through a large glass window in the front of the building on Gaffney Street in Fairbanks.
The Breadline is accepting donations of food or money at 507 Gaffney Road, or online at BreadlineAK.org.
It has not been an easy time for the hunger relief program. The pandemic cut off a lot of sources of food for the Breadline, which would normally get donations from restaurants and grocery stores. And there are more people in need.
Since the pandemic started, we started serving 42% more than we had previously, and it just stayed there. So, for the first time, in the 37-year history of the bread line, we're having to purchase food.
Breadline Executive Director Hannah Hill says staff members and volunteers have pivoted to keep up with the demand. So work was already underway Monday morning when glass exploded into the front of the building.
Chef Matt Davis - he does the food for the soup kitchen portion of our anti-hunger work at the Breadline -- and so he comes in 4:00, 4:30 in the morning, real early, and with his young son. They were both there in the morning when the rock came through.
Hill says Fairbanks Police collected security footage of the incident, but it’s not very revealing of who the vandal might be.
You can see them walk up from south Gaffney. They don't even pick up the rock. They came there with it. So, they just had a rock in their hand, walked up to our windows, threw the rock and walked away. And it was, it was very fast, like they weren't trying to break in.
Hill has been working at the hunger relief program since 2016. She says its important to note that no one was hurt. And although the staff is shaken, she doesn’t think the Breadline, nor anyone who works there, is really a target.
This is the first time we've had a major vandalism at our building. So it's not personal. And like, what do we do? We feed folks. No, one's mad at us. This is just hurt people, hurt people. And it's not an excuse, but it is a context. We are just in the way of somebody else's anger.
The Breadline is an institution in Fairbanks. It’s now serving as many as 300 meals a day in hot breakfasts and sack lunches.
Hill says the hunger program serves a lot of folks who have severe and untreated mental illnesses and others have profound substance use disorders. And, she says those folks are vulnerable, and much more likely to be the victim of a crime than to perpetrate one.
Just because people hear about one thing that happened to us. They're not hearing about all of the terror and violence that happened to the people that we serve every day.
Hill says she believes in “radical love.” She says she’s happy to talk about how the Breadline staff views incidents like this.
Our work is heavy. It's a heavy work every day. And if we let bitterness or rot take the place of love in our heart, then we can't do the work that.
She says already a glazier has measured the window for a replacement. Supporters of the organization brought plywood to board up the window Monday afternoon. And when word of the vandalism got around, donations came in. Already the Breadline has collected the $500 necessary for the deductible on the insurance claim that will pay to replace the window.