FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – For the more than 100 people who ate Christmas dinner at Fairbanks’ soup kitchen, Stone Soup Cafe leaders say a doctor’s donation made it possible to offer a meal featuring foods they say are often unobtainable.
Stone Soup Cafe staff say Dr. Ronald Teel and his wife Mary again donated enough money for staff to acquire 85 pounds of prime rib, which they say is a rare form of nutrition for those who eat at the soup kitchen. The donation also provided plenty of side dishes and desserts.
While the Christmas Day meal came at a time of giving, Hannah Hill, the Executive Director of Bread Line — the non-profit that operates Stone Soup Cafe — says the demand for meals is increasing.
“This year we passed 2023’s number in November,” Hill said. “We are now several thousand meals over last year’s record-breaking number.”
That increase, Hill said, began with the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset and has only gotten worse since the State of Alaska faced a backlog in SNAP applications.
“We saw a 25% increase from 2022 to 2023,” Hill added. “The more people that are able to access SNAP, the less they are required to use emergency services like food banks and soup kitchens.”
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