Encouragement here

Donations from Sept + taking bread orders

Good morning bread friends! 

We’ve got a few good updates today 😎

First, a tally of last month’s fundraising. As most of you already know, Bread & Justice is a philanthropic enterprise where we donate 100% of our profits to a different nonprofit each month. I was proud to partner with you all to support MMSD’s Transition Education Program for September. After all of the profits from each loaf of bread that you bought, we were able to donate $461 towards supporting students in our community who are currently living through homelessness. This TEP program is maintained by the Madison Public Schools Foundation, and it exists to ensure that children from families who are experiencing homelessness have the resources that they need to show up for and succeed in school.  

I’ve heard from a few of you that you made a donation directly to TEP. The $461 that I mentioned does not include direct donations, but it is always awesome to learn about someone being moved to donate based on my writing. Thank you all for supporting Bread & Justice, and for supporting some of the most vulnerable youth in our city. 

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I can’t wait to share bread with you this week! I am currently taking orders for this week’s bread sale. You can order at this link, and then pick up fresh Sourdough bread this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a reminder that we’re supporting folks in Western North Carolina by donating our profits this month towards getting critical necessities like food, water, and healthcare for survival and stability to folks in the area by way of a community-based social justice & social services organization in the area called BeLoved Asheville. 

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Now, two weeks after the hurricane, we’re still learning about the scale and scope of the devastation that Helene caused in North Carolina. Understanding the impact is important, and there are plenty of examples of that heavy reality. 

I’m also aware of the fact that we’re all waking up to more news today that yet another hurricane (Milton) is wreaking havoc on millions more people in Florida. And so I want to strike a different tone in your inbox today than what the news will take. I want to lift up some encouraging stories of humans coming together in North Carolina. There are so many people taking care of each other, feeding each other, and beginning the slow process of collecting themselves to plan for rebuilding.

There is a bakery in the Asheville area called Harmony Farm, who has been baking hundreds of loaves of bread and donating it to their neighbors, and to World Central Kitchen to feed folks in the area. 

hominyfarm

A post shared by @hominyfarm

wckitchen

A post shared by @wckitchen

I’ve been following another bakery called Flour. The stories they’re sharing on instagram are sure to make you smile. According to one of their posts – the day after the storm, many of their staff showed up to the bakery without coordinating with one another. And then they just decided to lean into the moment by using their skills and remaining resources to feed their neighbors.  They used what water they had left to make coffee and biscuits to pass out to anyone who needed it. And that has been their service to the theirneighbors ever since.   

flouravl

A post shared by @flouravl

 

These are trying times, but humans are awesome. 
I for one love getting such clear reminders of that reality. 
Thank you for being an awesome human. 

I look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday for bread pickup (remember, click here to pre-order bread)

Cheers, 
Mo Cheeks
baker

P.S. We still are very much in the final weeks of election season. 

And since we’re dealing with hurricanes, I’ll point out that scientists keep reminding us that these storms are much worse because our climate is getting warmer, and the water in the Gulf is much warmer than they have been. (Source links: on why Helene & Milton have been so intense)

Only one person running for President has called climate change a hoax, and again just after Helene hit reiterated his view that talk of climate change is a “scam”.

So… you know… if you’d like to see America take climate change seriously… that might be one reason to go out of your way to tell a friend not to vote for that person on Nov 5th.