Our Daily Bread Announces Major Expansion Plans to Address Growing Demand

Our Daily Bread food and resource center has unveiled plans for a major expansion and renovation of its Stillwater facility to accommodate the growing number of guests seeking food assistance services.

The organization is applying for a $3.8 million TSET Legacy Grant to fund the project, which aims to improve guest services and create more dignified waiting conditions for the hundreds of households served each month.

"We need to expand the waiting room," said Rachael Condley, director of Our Daily Bread, during a recent community celebration at the facility. "I just feel like that's the place where our mission is really fulfilled. The connections, having people come in and have a comfortable, like a more spread out, comfortable place to be."

The current waiting area contains 74 chairs but regularly accommodates an average of 100 households per shopping session, with many guests forced to stand in hallways. Each household can represent up to four individuals, meaning the facility may serve 400 people during a single session.

"So are our guests," Condley said, referring to the cramped conditions experienced by attendees at the celebration event. "So with the strategic planning of our board of directors, the generosity of the City of Stillwater, and the giving of a couple who none of us had ever met, our new plans are to expand and renovate utilizing the southwest corner of our building that was previously occupied by Service Oklahoma."

The expansion plans include connecting the waiting room to the teaching kitchen, moving the salon services to create a more integrated community space, and relocating all administrative functions to the back of the building so guest services occupy the front areas.

Our Daily Bread has experienced tremendous growth since opening in September 2017. The organization's founders initially hoped to serve 500 households per month, but served 780 households in their first month of operation.

"Our services have grown from there," Condley said. The organization now regularly serves over 1,000 households monthly through its main Stillwater location and satellite programs.

The facility operates as a client-choice food pantry, allowing guests to select groceries in a setting designed like a traditional grocery store. The organization's mission focuses on "feeding our community collaboratively and providing connections that enable lasting change."

Beyond food distribution, Our Daily Bread has expanded its services significantly over the years. The organization recovered 408,082 pounds of food from retail partners including Walmart, Homeland, Sprouts, Aldi, Dollar General and Starbucks in 2024, compared to 316,925 pounds in 2017.

An on-site community garden, managed by a full-time garden manager, provides fresh produce that guests can harvest directly. The OSU Student Farm partnership has been particularly successful, donating 56,000 pounds of fresh produce in 2023 and reaching over 100,000 pounds donated to date.

"Erich, how busy are you during sessions?" Condley asked volunteer Erich Schaefer, who restocks produce during shopping sessions. "Man, it was crazy yesterday, let me tell you," he responded, highlighting the demand for fresh foods among guests.

The organization has also launched innovative programs including an on-site salon that has provided 788 free haircuts since January 2022. Volunteer Jennifer Jalbert donated salon equipment worth approximately $4,000 to $5,000 and coordinates licensed stylists who provide the services.

"A fresh haircut empowers it, encourages it, makes people stand differently, they walk differently when they get done. It's beautiful," Condley said.

Our Daily Bread operates satellite locations including the Cushing Marketplace, which opened in June 2024, and the Ripley Marketplace. The organization also runs a Mobile Market program that visits communities throughout Payne County monthly.

Resource Navigator positions were created in 2022 to connect guests with services beyond food assistance, including employment and educational opportunities. The organization received over $1.1 million over three years from the Potts Family Foundation to fund and grow these resource connection efforts.

The organization has received a $500,000 estate gift from the Maurizzi family, which provides some funding for capital improvements. However, leaders hope to secure the TSET Legacy Grant to avoid launching a community capital campaign.

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"We don't want our community to have to pay for another capital campaign, to be honest," Condley said. "But we do want to do work on our building here in Ripley and Cushing that will make a lasting impact if we're going to do anything."

The TSET Legacy Grant is a one-time funding opportunity of up to $150 million designed to address Oklahoma's leading causes of death – cancer and cardiovascular disease – through large-scale, transformational projects. Applications require a minimum of $3 million per project.

Finalists for the grant will be announced Sept. 8, with final award decisions made by the TSET Board of Directors on Nov. 20. If successful, Our Daily Bread hopes to begin construction in January 2026 and complete renovations within 12 months.

OSU engineering students design efficiency upgrades to cut wait times

An Oklahoma State University senior design industrial engineering class analyzed guest waiting times and process flow to help develop renovation plans that will accommodate future growth while maintaining the organization's focus on dignity and community connections.

Right now, people might have to wait up to two and a half hours to get their groceries. The students want to cut that down to 30 minutes in the lobby and an hour total at the pantry.

"We want to make things better for the people who use Our Daily Bread. Our ideas should improve how the pantry works and make the whole place fit together better," the student project stated.

After collecting data and running simulations, the team suggests changing to four 2-hour sessions each week instead of three 2.5-hour sessions. They also recommend adding five more shopping carts, bringing the total to 25.

These changes are expected to cut lobby wait time by 38% to about 30 minutes and total time at the pantry by 23% to just under an hour.

The students also came up with three new layout options for the pantry. Their top pick keeps similar items together, makes use of new space, and helps people move through the pantry more easily.

This project was part of their coursework in Oklahoma State's School of Industrial Engineering and Management. Our Daily Bread's long-range planning committee will look at these recommendations as they plan for the future.

"Dignity is such a key principle for us," Condley said. "We need to expand the waiting room. I just feel like that's the place where our mission is really fulfilled."