Banquet at 35: Serving a community with changing food insecurity

It started with feeding 100 people each month and providing one meal each week.

The Banquet now is responsible for serving 16 meals each week and 700 people every day.

“When I came in 2008, we were serving nine meals per week. Thirteen years later, the number has almost
doubled,” said Tamera Jerke-Liesinger, executive director of The Banquet.

“Between the three meals that we serve Monday through Friday, it is nothing for us to serve over 1,000 meals. When you think about the population of Sioux Falls, that is a significant number of people that are relying on The Banquet.”

As Sioux Falls has grown over the last 35 years, the need for places like The Banquet has expanded and changed, she said. Right before the start of the pandemic in early 2020, it added a second location on the west side near the Hayward neighborhood. It brought an increase in guests and has not changed the numbers downtown, Jerke-Liesinger said.

“This proves that we are serving an entirely different demographic of people. We think it has a lot to do with transportation. It is quite a trip to get downtown from that Hayward neighborhood,” she said.

“These families are, for lack of a better term, working poor people. They are doing the same things that every parent does every day: They are getting up, taking the kids to school, going to work and paying their bills. The unfortunate thing is that by the time they do those things they just do not have enough money to feed their children. They are utilizing The Banquet to ensure that they keep that roof over their children’s heads.”

The state of food insecurity

Before the pandemic started, Feeding South Dakota was serving about 9,300 families monthly through its  programs. In March 2020, it went from 7,600 families to 15,000. April 2020 was the peak at 21,000 families.

“And then we saw another spike in July of last year, so we’re on the downside of that and just about down to a trailing 12-month average of before the pandemic, which is a good thing. So we’re meeting the need,” said Jennifer Stensaas, marketing and communications director.

The nonprofit has changed how it distributes food, closing its standalone pantry and shifting to mobile events statewide, including 14 Sioux Falls neighborhoods.

The largest one at First United Methodist Church, serving neighborhoods around downtown, draws about 240 families, Stensaas said.

“We work with our inventory to put together a supply of food that’s about 75 pounds and can all work together to make several meals,” she said. “You can show up with your photo ID, and our staff and volunteers check you in and monitor so we can keep it consistent.”

Anyone is eligible to visit one mobile event monthly.

“Some people need us only once a year,” Stensaas said. “And maybe the rough patch is September-October, but we have had a lot of people coming in in need of food assistance.”

Rising prices might have something to do with demand.

The national Consumer Price Index found food prices were 3.7 percent higher in August compared with the same time a year ago.

This year, food-at-home prices are expected to increase between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent, and food-away-from-home prices are expected to increase between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent. Next year, food-at-home prices are expected to increase between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, and food-away-from-home prices are expected to increase between 3 percent and 4 percent.

In Sioux Falls, though, a number of entities have stepped up to address food insecurity, said Kari Benz, director of Human Services of Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.

“Religious organizations have provided a great amount of opportunities for people to have access to food, Thrive is working on having the ability to make sure that there aren’t food deserts out there by doing a lot of strategizing and have done some studies to identify those areas, and Feeding South Dakota has done a tremendous job of getting food out there,” she said.

“(The Banquet has) been steadfast in their mission and certainly do all they can to ensure that people have access to food. We would be lost without them. They are never afraid of taking on a challenge, and I certainly hope that they know how appreciated they really are.”

Back at The Banquet, dining room service has returned after shifting to takeout meals for about a year. That also has brought back an important element of the experience.

“A lot of the folks that utilize The Banquet rely on being able to experience the ‘true Banquet’ where not only do you come in and get a meal, but you share in conversation and fellowship with the volunteers of The Banquet,” Jerke-Liesinger said.

Talk to some regular guests, and it becomes clear there’s a hunger for more than just food.

That’s the case for Ray Feller, a custodian at Southeast Tech who said he enjoys being able to connect with others at The Banquet.

“After my divorce, I had no problem making my own meals, but I could not make someone appear across the table from me,” Feller said. “I thought to myself, ‘There has got to be somewhere that I can go,’ because I was starting to get seriously depressed because of the loneliness I was experiencing. I remembered someone mentioning that The Banquet could be a potential solution for me, so I thought, ‘I’ll try it out.’ So I went down there for the first time and never looked back. I have now been visiting The Banquet for 20 years.”

As for what the future of The Banquet holds, the immediate need is for more volunteers, Jerke-Liesinger said.

“We have not identified what our next step is yet, but we know that The Banquet as it looks today is just going to be completely different from The Banquet 35 years down the road. Just like they knew in 1985.”