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April 1, 2025 14 mins

The Flint Hills Breadbasket is transforming food assistance in Manhattan with its upcoming move to a spacious new facility on Skyview Drive, which will open in early May. Executive Director Karla Hagemeister shares how this expansion will create a dignified shopping experience while nearly doubling its weekly service hours.

• New location will feature a grocery store-like environment with polished concrete floors and tall ceilings
• Moving from cramped quarters to a space designed for dignity, comfort, and accessibility
• Service hours expanding from 14.5 to 26 hours weekly
• Volunteer opportunities available, including preparing 15,000 bags for the upcoming letter carriers' food drive
• The current Yuma Street location will transfer to the City of Manhattan for community use
• Grow Green Match Day funds are crucial for operations, as federal program cuts impact fresh produce options



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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
Hey, let's get an update withwhat's happening at the Flint
Hills Breadbasket here duringthe GMCF Community Hour on KMAN

(00:21):
this morning.
Carla Hagemeister is theExecutive Director.
What's it been?
Three years, now Four.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yep just over three.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Just over three.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I hit that three-year anniversary in March.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Too bad, you don't have anything going on over in
your world.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Oh no, it's dull, dull, dull, dull, dull days.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Dull, dull, dull.
Well, obviously you knowthere's so many neat things that
are happening.
You know, you, you got the oldfurniture warehouse building.
Yes, is that Skyview Drive?
Yes, it's on Skyview Drive andI see the pictures that you post
and actually we talked about itin church yesterday and and it
was, it was neat to to to getsome perspective on what you're

(00:58):
doing there.
So that's still in the process,so bring us up to date.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
We're really um approaching.
I updated a us up to date.
We're really approaching.
I updated a calendar the otherday.
We're down to about six weeksbefore we open in the new
location.
Yes, it's here before we knowit.
The construction started inJanuary and they've just been
moving right along.
Things are knock on wood ontrack.

(01:25):
We will have possession of acompleted project.
They've got the targeted dateof completion somewhere between
April 17th and 22nd, whenthey'll finish their punch list
and we'll be able to truly startmaking ourselves at home there.
We've allowed ourselves a fewweeks to make that move kind of
over time.
While we continue to operateout of 905 Yuma, we want to make

(01:48):
sure that we have time for ourstaff and volunteers to get
familiar with the space, movearound in it, do some test runs,
make sure that we're ready togreet guests, and then the first
week of May is when we havetargeted to start operating in
the new location.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
So what's going to be new about the new facility?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
A lot.
If you've been in our oldfacility, you would see that we
are a very tight-knit group ofpeople.
And we have to be a verytight-knit group of people
because there's a lot of overlapof functions happening within a
pretty tight physical space.
Happening within a pretty tightphysical space.
The beauty of the new facilityis that we will have a market

(02:30):
shopping floor that looks andfeels like a small grocery store
Think of maybe like an Aldisize where you walk in and it
has the tall ceiling, thepolished concrete floor, the
physical space, so that ourguests can come in and just have
a really normalized, dignifiedvisit.

(02:52):
It will be less crowded, lessnoisy, less overwhelming.
For those of us who get ourfill of people every day.
You know sometimes it can be alittle bit overstimulating.
You know sometimes it can be alittle bit overstimulating, and
so we're really looking forwardto having better access for
everybody, but especially whenyou think about somebody who
maybe has some mobilitychallenges, uses a walker or

(03:15):
cane, somebody with a stroller,anything like that, to have just
the space to move within themarket while they're making
their selections.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I think, with the breadbasket in the current
location, you walk in and maybeI don't see everything that is
accessible to everything, but ithas a real warehouse feel, a
very industrial feel, sure, andthat's going to be quite a bit
different.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
It is Again that front facing, the guest facing
area is going to look and feellike a very welcoming, warm,
guest centered, customer servicecentered space with a check-in
desk, a checkout desk, a softseating area, not feeling like

(04:01):
you're running the gauntlet oryou're in just kind of this
holding area, but comfortableseating.
A screen on the wall that willhave announcements about what
maybe we're offering or eventsthat are coming up, restrooms
that are equipped, handicapequipped, water fountains,
bottle fillers, just everythingthat you could think of that

(04:24):
will make a person's visit morecomfortable and dignified.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Do you have bottle fillers now?

Speaker 2 (04:29):
No, no, really, oh no .

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Boy.
That would be a nice addition,wouldn't it?
We don't have a water fountain.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Right now we have one restroom, we have one office,
we have a market that aboutthree people can shop in at a
time.
People can shop in at a time,and so just the efficiency, the
capacity for how we will be ableto serve guests will be just

(04:55):
night and day difference for ourguests, but also, I think, for
our volunteers, our staff, ourcommunity in general.
I think we'll really enjoyhaving spaces that are
specifically set aside for themto do the piece that they're
doing.
We like each other.
We're a tight group.
We have a lot of fun.
There's a lot of interactionand community building between

(05:17):
our guests and our staff and ourvolunteers, and we want to hold
on to that.
We enjoy that.
That's probably one of the bestthings about it is that people
aren't just getting their needfor food met, but a lot of times
it's also a need for community,it's a need for interaction.
So we want to hold on to thatpiece, but we also want our
volunteers to feel like theyhave space to do what they're

(05:37):
there to do and our staff tohave space to do what their
tasks are.
So getting those physicalcomponents of it to match up
with our values exciting.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
You know you made use of the mention volunteer and of
course, Lori Bishop was in here.
We talked about volunteers andthe work that you do together to
coordinate a lot of folks thatcome and help out.
So what volunteer opportunitiesdo you have coming up Other
than what we've already talkedabout and helping move boxes and
boxes, and boxes and all kindsof other things over to the new

(06:10):
location?

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Sure, we will have some volunteer opportunities,
probably for the move, but juston an ongoing basis.
We have volunteers that driveout to our food recovery routes
every day, pick up donationsfrom the grocery stores and
bring that back to us.
We have sorters.
We have volunteers that workout front we call it like front

(06:31):
of house, like you would in arestaurant that are doing more
forward-facing volunteeropportunities with our guests.
In the new location we will bealtering our hours somewhat.
We're kind of holding off onannouncing what the specific
hours will be until we get allof our stakeholders really
notified of it and make surethat they're aware of it.
First.

(06:51):
We want to make sure we respectthem.
But at the end of the day,right now we are open for guest
services about 14 and a halfhours per week and with the
change in capacity and change ofwhat we'll be able to do, we
will actually bump that up to 26hours per week.
So we hope and should be ableto do that with pretty much the
base of volunteers that wecurrently have.

(07:13):
But we also know that there'sgoing to be some places where we
need to fill in some gaps.
So we're excited to have someopportunities to welcome some
new volunteers.
We will also, in this newlocation, have better capacity
to host larger groups tovolunteer with us.
And then, very specifically, inthe short term, we are
preparing for the Stamp OutHunger letter carriers drive.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
That's always a big deal and that's what the?
Second Saturday of May.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Second Saturday in May.
This Thursday we will be getting15,000 bags to go, with the
15,000 cards that we need,stapled to said bags.
That will then be folded anddistributed by our letter
carriers into people's mailboxesso that they can then fill the
bags and have them picked up.
So we are needing volunteers tohelp us get those bags stapled,

(08:06):
folded, ready to go.
15,000, that's a big number,but it's also a fun activity to
do with a group or a small groupor a group of friends, just
whatever that could be.
And that could be a groupcoming and spending a couple
hours with their favoritestaplers at the breadbasket, or
that could be something where asmall group whether it's a

(08:27):
fraternity, sorority club wantsto use their meeting time and
they can just get the suppliesfrom us, take it back to
fraternity sorority club wantsto use their meeting time and
they can just get the suppliesfrom us, take it back to
wherever it is that that groupis getting together and maybe
order some pizza or some icecream and sit and talk and do
some stapling and folding andmake a big impact for us.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Never thought of stapling as being a fun activity
.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
I think it could be.
It could be, it depends on whoyou are.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
You know, of course I have this vague reference to
the office, and so stapling is awhole different creature when
it comes to the Flint HillsBreadbasket for this effort.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
It is.
I'm excited for this justbecause, again, we get a lot of
requests Groups want to dothings together, the offices
want to volunteer no-transcriptTo meet the need of a company

(09:23):
that has 20 employees to dosomething that's truly impactful
for the organization, and sothis was kind of fun.
I was like this is one thatreally kills or kills two birds
with one stone or checks a lotof boxes, in the sense that it
is something that we really doneed to have done, but it has a
lot of flexibility andopportunities for volunteers to

(09:45):
do it in a way that works forthem.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
Let's go back to the transition.
What's going to happen with thecurrent location on Yuma?

Speaker 2 (09:51):
The current location on Yuma will go to the city of
Manhattan.
We've had a very long historyand a cooperative relationship
with the city.
The building that we'recurrently occupying was built by
our community, meaning donorssupported the breadbasket to
build that building.
But the land that we're sittingon is owned by the city of

(10:12):
Manhattan, and so it's alwaysbeen within our lease or our
contract with the city that,should we vacate the building,
that that building and anythingthat's not nailed down that we
leave behind would go to thecity of Manhattan, and so the
Parks and Rec Department ismaking some plans for that that
I'll let them share when they'reready to do it, but they are

(10:34):
working on some things that Ithink the community will
appreciate and will be a gooduse of the building going
forward.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
There's a lot.
There's a new synergy down inthat area.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
There is.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
You know the work that they've done there at the
Douglas Center, those statuesyou know I drive by those and
look at those, just like youknow, and it's just neat to see
some of the things that aregoing on.
So I'm sure they've got somegreat ideas.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
It's a little bit bittersweet for us to leave that
space, because there is historythere.
That's where we started and ithas been a great location for us
.
But when we really looked downto it, how do we want to serve
guests going into the future?
What are our needs?
How do we make sure that we'rebeing responsive to those needs?
The move for us has really beenjust couldn't have been timed

(11:17):
better, couldn't have worked outbetter for us, and we're
excited for what thatopportunity for us is going
forward.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Three weeks we have Grow Green Match Day.
What's it mean for thebreadbasket?

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Grow Green Day is a great day for the breadbasket.
Many nonprofits in thecommunity really rely on these
small dollar donations that comein.
They build up to somethingthat's really important and so
those days that we have to takethat energy that comes in with
Grow Green Day really can buildit up.
The reality is is that GrowGreen funds are an important

(11:50):
part of our just generaloperating expenses.
A lot of grants are determinedby specific projects or have a
lot of parameters around them.
Grow Green Day is a great dayfor us to just get support that
helps us do our work every day,to just do what we're doing.
We, like many organizationsright now, are kind of wading

(12:16):
through the changes that arehappening.
There have been programs thatwere supported through the
federal government that havebeen terminated or contracts
have been ended that will impactus.
We were grateful recipients offood from the LFPA program the
last two summers, which broughtKansas-grown produce into food

(12:41):
programs, so it was really anamazing source of healthy, fresh
Kansas-grown food for ourguests.
That made a large impact andthat program has been cut.
So when I look at the needs ofour guests and the desires of
our guests to have healthy foods, they want and desire the

(13:04):
produce that we're all lookingfor and that, honestly, at the
grocery store those prices aregoing up.
So I'm looking for ways to makesure that, as we move into a
new location, that we have foodon the shelves.
And that's not to say that I'mpanicking, but I have to be

(13:26):
mindful of that.
I have to make sure that, as wegrow, that we are sustainable,
that we are being good stewardsof the funds that we receive,
but that we're holding true tomaking sure that we provide our
guests with healthy food choices.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Lots of great things happening in the future, the
very near future, but also somechallenges associated with the
activities and the work that'sbeing done at the Flint Hills
Breadbasket.
Good luck on the new move andwe'll talk again very soon, I'm
sure.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
I'm sure I look forward to it.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Carla Hagenmeister.
Thanks for bringing Olivia fromOverland Park to set in on the
show today.
She's waving at all of ourlisteners.
Today it's the GMCF CommunityHour.
Vern's back in a couple of.
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