We recently connected with Erin Stieglitz and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erin, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

One in nine Georgians suffer from food insecurity. The statistic is one in seven when it comes to children. Food is a basic need and a human right, but unfortunately for many of our neighbors, there are many barriers food access. Bagel Rescue aims to be part of the solution to hunger by pushing into communities of greatest need.

When someone cannot meet their basic nutritional needs, it is hard to accomplish anything in their life. From focus and emotional regulation, to biological metabolic processes, bodies cannot function without food. For children, that includes learning, playing, and physical, mental, and emotional development. No one can meet their full potential in life without adequate nutrition. Additionally, many chronic diseases evolve from malnutrition.

Bagels aren’t solving the hunger problem in Atlanta, but we are a food resource that can make a difference in people’s lives. We hear repeatedly that the bagels we offer may be the only food someone has in a day. The bag of bagels a family receives at a food pantry can take the burden of one meal off their shoulders so they can save money for other things. We can deliver a few hundred bagels to a shelter to provide one breakfast a week, which frees their budget for the many other necessities required to run the facility. These little steps to help those in need are how we are making a difference.

A bagel seems small, but we are using it in big ways to support food justice.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Bagel Rescue is a non-profit hunger relief food rescue specifically for bagels. We rescue unsold bagels from bakeries and donate them to feeding programs including shelters, food pantries, street outreach efforts, youth programs, senior apartments, and more. Our goal is to reduce food waste and support hunger relief, one bagel at a time.

Our family discovered bagel waste late in 2020 and I felt I needed to do something to put this good food to good use. With the help of partners and volunteers, Bagel Rescue’s network has grown to include 32 bagel shop donors, over 125 volunteers, and over 100 partner agencies that receive bagels weekly. We have rescued over 1.2 million bagels and made more than 9,000 deliveries in less than three years. By keeping bagels out of landfills, we have also saved an equivalent amount of Co2 to that of 20,000 full grown trees in one year.

Bagel Rescue is the combination of several vital causes. We are reducing food waste and all the resource that go into making a bagel – from farm, to transport, to bagel shop – by ensuring the bagel gets eaten. If that bagel doesn’t get sold, it’s still a delicious food that someone else can enjoy, especially someone in need of a bite of dignity. That’s why we connect this viable food resource to neighbors in need of nourishment. We are helping feed neighbors where they live in nine counties of metro Atlanta. We get creative in the ways we deliver bagels to ensure those who want them, receive them.

We are also creating community connections. From bagel shop to volunteer to partner agency, we do our best to keep things hyper local. This way our routes are efficient for volunteers and bagel shops know their food is support their local community. We are connecting people with hands to lend, to those who need helping hands.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Running a non-profit is running a business. I didn’t know that when I started this journey. I really just wanted to feed people in need by repurposing bagels. But I quickly learned there is so much more to growing a non-profit than the logistics of the immediate task.

I’ve learned a variety of skills to pull together the entirety of the non-profit including: marketing, social media, graphic design, financial management, volunteer management, taxes, fundraising, building strategic partnerships, and more. It has been a challenge but has ultimately gotten Bagel Rescue to it’s current stage and helped me grow as a person.

I try very hard not to say no to any opportunity for Bagel Rescue. So many times something really wonderful has come from unexpected moments. Doing workshops with youth organizations has opened so many eyes to the issues of food waste and hunger. Going into business settings with bagel bagging projects has led to wonderful relationships that continue to be fruitful in the community.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I decided to research what bagel shops were doing with their bagels, a friend of mine wanted to help. Together we started Bagel Rescue and went through the legal process of becoming a 501c3. Eventually my friend had to move on to other things in her life and I wasn’t sure I could continue alone. I was at a crossroads.

Feeling passionate about the project, I decided I would reach out for help to see if others wanted to get involved. To my surprise, they really did! I was able to get my friend’s routes covered but more and more people wanted to help. That’s how Bagel Rescue became such a volunteer driven org. Every time someone wanted to volunteer from a different area of town, I would call a new bagel shop to ask them to join us and more feeding programs to receive bagels. The epic web of goodness grew and continues to grow in this manner.

Pivoting was actually the best step I was forced to take.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bagelrescue.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bagel.rescue/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BagelRescue/