How The Banquet has been feeding the hungry for 40 years

Simplified: As The Banquet celebrated its 40th anniversary this week, Executive Director Tamera Jerke-Liesinger sat down with Sioux Falls Simplified to talk about the nonprofit's history, as well as how it's grown and adapted to address the needs of the community over the years.

Why it matters

• On June 17, 1985, The Banquet served its first meal and began its mission to nourish the community. It initially began at the prompting of Bishop Paul Dudley, the then-bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls (and namesake of the now across-the-street shelter the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House). Dudley recognized that as Sioux Falls population grew, there was also a need for some type of ministry to help feed the hungry.
• The Banquet started by offering meals once a week, and today, folks have 16 different chances to get fed. Last year alone, The Banquet served about 180,000 meals, and, on its busiest days, the organization has served as many as 1,000 meals in one day.
• Jerke-Liesinger said it's a misconception that everyone served by The Banquet is homeless. A lot of the guests are what she describes as the "working poor."

"They're just working relatively low-paying jobs, and we all know how expensive food is right now," she said. "I think there may be a misconception of laziness and those types of things, but the majority of our folks are legitimately doing the best that they can every day."

How have things changed over time?

As Sioux Falls has grown, The Banquet has grown with it.

• The organization moved to its current spot on Eighth Street in 2006, and in 2020 it opened a second location on the west side of town off of North Marion Road.

Through it all, The Banquet has relied entirely on private donations and volunteers to keep its doors open.

The organization has also overcome its fair share of challenges – especially when the pandemic hit.

"When that struck, we lost 95% of our volunteer base ... when we opened up the dining rooms 18 months later, those volunteer groups didn't come back," Jerke-Liesinger said.

• Now, five years later, it's getting back to "normal," she said, but the organization had to recalibrate its volunteer setup – largely by paring down how many volunteers it needs for each meal service and allowing multiple groups to volunteer at the same meal.

Doing anything special to celebrate this big milestone?

"We're having cake," Jerke-Liesinger said. "We don't have dessert very often here, so when we do, it's kind of a big deal."

What about the next 40 years?

It's essentially more of the same.

"We need to be that anchor for food security in our community," Jerke-Liesinger said.

Want to help out?

The Banquet is always looking for volunteers, as well as financial support to ensure the organization can keep doing the good work it's doing.