Metro Atlanta nonprofit battles food insecurity with bagels

ATLANTA - A metro Atlanta nonprofit has found a way to eliminate food waste and help serve those in need across the community. Bagel Rescue started four years ago and has since rescued 2 million bagels from going to waste, instead bringing them to community outreach programs all across metro Atlanta.

If there's one thing Erin Stieglitz knows, it's the difference a good bagel can make.

"Something as small as a bagel means a lot to somebody who didn't have breakfast this morning," she said.

Stieglitz is the founder and chief rescue officer of Bagel Rescue. Her operation connects 50 bagel and pastry shops to more than 100 organizations helping those in need.

"So we donate to shelters, food pantries, youth programs, senior apartments, street outreach efforts. So anytime I would find someone who needed a food resource, I wanted to be there for them," she said.

Erin Stieglitz

Her mission started during the holidays in 2020. She originally wanted to plan a breakfast for frontline healthcare workers. Her then 9-year-old son called a local bagel shop to ask for donations.

"He called and they agreed to give us the leftover bagels from the day before. We set up the date, and there were hundreds of leftover bagels," she recalled.

That's when Stieglitz saw a way to reduce food waste and help those in need.

"We have now rescued 2 million bagels, breads, and pastries. We're dealing with about 15 to 18,000 baked goods a week. That's how much would be discarded in metro Atlanta if we did not do this work," Stieglitz told Good Day's Lindsay Tuman.

She and her team of more than 150 volunteers visit bagel shops every day to collect what would normally be thrown away, like at Avi Ahlzadeh's Brooklyn Bagel.

"It's a good thing, it's a good feeling. You never want to waste food, and you never want to waste anything. You're spending money on it and it's amazing we can give it to people who actually need it and not have to throw it away. This is a great program she's got going on for sure," Ahlzadeh said.

Bagel Rescue has workshops with businesses, religious organizations, youth groups, and more to help package them. Then the bagels are delivered to organizations like Hunter Hill First Missionary Baptist Church.

"Here at Hunter Hill it's just been amazing to have a partnership with Bagel Rescue and I will say it's just been an enriching experience. Together we don't just serve delicious bagels but to be able to do that within the community has been truly a blessing," said Yoshina Colbert-Bradford, the church's community outreach director.

Each Wednesday, the church serves 50 families with food items, including bagels.

"When we first began to give them out it was like the best blessing ever. People requesting like, 'I want the cinnamon apple!'" Bradford said.

Bagel Rescue is proving that something as simple as a bagel can help reduce waste and improve people's lives every day.

"So I hope that with my work someone feels inspired to do something small, because with all the small things it adds up to something great," Stieglitz said.

Bagel Rescue is always looking for volunteers and organizations that would like to help package the bagels. If you want to learn more, you can visit their website.