On a busy day at Rock Hill Bakehouse, finding a moment to rest can be hard to come by.
“There’s a demand for bread, for sure, and our product is second to none,” said Jeremy Diffee, who’s been a baker with the Glens Falls bakery for about five years. “I like doing the hard work, and I like getting into it. I feel like I am part of something here.”
Owner Matt Funiciello got into the baking business 32 years ago. “We usually bake about 3,000 loaves of bread each day, and that’s about 4,500 or 5,000 pounds of dough,” Funiciello said.
What You Need To Know
- For the past six months, the Rock Hill Bakehouse in Glens Falls has been giving away free bread to those in the community who need it
- Owner Matt Funiciello says about 100 loaves are placed on a rack outside the bakery every Tuesday through Saturday
- While most of the people who take the bread are struggling, Funiciello says many leave behind financial donations
Never afraid to dirty his hands with flour, Funiciello first learned the trade from his stepmother.
“Having grown up in a family where baking was a very important part of our life, we made fresh bread all the time. I recognized that what was being done at the supermarket did no justice to my stepmother‘s trade,” Funiciello said.
Around the start of 2020, Funiciello moved the bakery and its adjoining café across town. Three months later, the pandemic hit.
“When the pandemic happened, we were all really concerned this was going to put the nail in the coffin of our new home,” Funiciello said.
After fearing the worst, Funiciello says their wholesale business actually took off, as more families started dining at home.
“Even though we lost our café, which was significant, we gained that back in wholesale volume,” Funiciello said. “Our supermarket business is much larger than it has been historically in 10 or 15 years.”
Realizing they were far luckier than many of their friends and neighbors, Funiciello and his team came up with a plan to give back.
“The simplest answer is what I have always told family: 'If you are unemployed and homeless, I can at least give you a loaf of bread,'” Funiciello said.
Every day that they’ve been open for the past six months, the Rock Hill team has placed about 100 loaves on a rack out front. With no questions asked, the bread is free for anyone who may be struggling to make ends meet.
“I thought that was a great idea, excellent,” Diffee said. “I mean people are definitely in need right now, and I thought it would be a great thing to do.”
By the end of most days, Funiciello says the rack is emptied. While many leave generous donations behind, he says a lot of the people who come by have never struggled financially until now.
“I know the need in the community is huge, and I know for the most part, people coming to the rack really need the bread,” Funiciello said.
For Funiciello and his dedicated staff, it is a labor of love that will continue as long as there’s a need.
“It feels good,” Diffee said. “I feel like I’m doing something positive, and it makes me feel good about myself.” “We are all working-class people, and the idea that we would be helping other working-class people who are having a hard time right now, it makes it so much happier to go to work knowing that we are doing something that is really valid in the middle of this pandemic,” Funiciello said.
Located at 18 Curran Lane in Glens Falls, Rock Hill Bakehouse is open Tuesday through Saturday.
Calling it his team’s way of helping people who may be struggling during a pandemic, owner Matt Funiciello says the rack is emptied by the end of most days. pic.twitter.com/S4XCpt4KyG
— Matt Hunter (@MattHunterTV) January 25, 2021
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