This story is one of several in Sioux Falls Simplified's annual 'A Little Help' give-back campaign. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to support Bread Break. You can donate here, and, if you wanna support two cool things in one, we're donating a portion of new subscriber revenue as well.

Simplified: In her first two weeks on the job as Bread Break, Volunteer and Program Coordinator Keilani Burroughs said she's never seen anything like the volunteer support the nonprofit has. Here's how Bread Break's network of 80+ volunteers fuel the mission to rescue food from going to waste and feeding the hungry.

Why it matters

• Bread Break was entirely volunteer led and ran for its first decade. It wasn't until the effort formalized as a federal nonprofit in 2021 that it hired its first paid employee and later its first executive director, Pam Cole, in 2024.
• Today, the nonprofit relies on more than 80 volunteers to fulfill 120 routes picking up food that would likely otherwise go to waste and delivering it to people in need. That's resulted in more than 400,000 pounds of food being diverted from the landfill, and the nonprofit is on track to surpass 500,000 pounds rescued this year.
• For volunteers Joni and Stan Wendland, supporting Bread Break is a not only a simple way to give back, but it's also a way to truly to see the results of their work. For example, Stan Wendland said, there's often unhoused folks sitting outside the Union Gospel Mission when they arrive to drop off food.

"When you deliver it, the staff inside are very grateful that food comes in," he said. "And then you can see the people outside there waiting to go inside and have their meal. It's kinda special."

Tell me more

New this year, Bread Break has hired Burroughs to serve as a full-time volunteer and program coordinator in the hopes of growing the nonprofit's reach even further.

• The goal is to add opportunities to rescue food from catered events, which would mean volunteers working typical business hours could still volunteer during the evenings.

Burroughs is new on the job, but it doesn't take long to see the pivotal role volunteers play – and it goes beyond delivering food.

• She's seen volunteers advocating to their friends to sign up to volunteer. And volunteers are often advocates to local businesses – connecting them to Bread Break when they see excess food, or taking leftovers from an event to a receiving partner who'd benefit from them.

"Our volunteers are so connected throughout the entire community that it's like they work for us," Burroughs said.

How can I sign up to volunteer?

Volunteers can sign up and take as many or as few routes as they want. Some volunteers drive four or five hours each week, and others take a single route each month.

• Bread Break uses the Food Rescue US app, where volunteers can sign up for the route, log the amount of food rescued and see their cumulative impact over time – including how many pounds of food rescued.

The best way to sign up is to fill out this form on the Bread Break website.

"You get to see your impact every time you do a route," Burroughs said. "You also get to see the impact that local businesses are making and can choose to spend your dollars with them."