We are Expanding

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To our loyal customers and friends,

My Gluten Free Bread Company and My Place continue to grow and expand.  We are busy baking for area Ingles Stores, as well as Earth Fare, Hendersonville Co-op, Asheville Co-op, cafes and restaurants.

In order to service our commercial clients, the bakery is no longer open on Wednesday and Saturday.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot still get your favorite chocolate chip cookie, cranberry nut scone or delectable banana bread.  Please come in . . . you will always find fresh frozen product for immediate purchase or you can place your order with one of our students.  We will bake it fresh and have it available for pick up on your choice of Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.  For your further convenience, you can also place your order at order.mygfbread.com (48 hour minimum notice).

Our students are not only working hard in the bakery, but they continue to excel in their pre-apprenticeship baker’s program through CHEFCERTIFICATION.com.  Their current course curriculum includes Culinary Nutrition, Food Service Management, Sanitation, and the Gluten Free Alternative.  Come in and see their accomplishments on our Wall of Fame.

Please ring the bell and come in.  We would love to see you!

On the Rise

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My Gluten Free Bread Company in Hendersonville is filled with the sweet aroma of banana bread and looks like a cheery classroom: clean and bright, with encouraging posters on the walls bearing words like “dream” and “laugh.” When 21-year-old Dakota Cook clocks in each morning, he reviews the day’s orders and sets about weighing, mixing, and baking. Since being promoted to team captain, his responsibilities also include training and supporting his coworkers.

Cook is among eight at-risk young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 employed at the bread company, which opened in March under the guidance of Buddhist nun Pannavati. The bakery is a social enterprise of My Place, a youth shelter she created in 2009. Head baker Kenneth Martinez, former owner of West First Wood-fired Pizza, oversees the program’s participants, who are trained to create gluten-free breads and desserts to be sold through local grocery outlets, online, and in the store. But this bakery isn’t in it for the money.

The profits go to support and provide housing for the employees. My Gluten Free Bread Company, explains Pannavati, evolved as a way to maintain and expand My Place as well as provide jobs for at-risk youth. “We don’t hire youth to make bread. We make bread to hire youth,” she says. Pannavati aims to give them a safe place to live and work, as well as coping, job, and social skills, but most of all, a sense of hope. “They need to believe in themselves,” she says, “I teach them about accountability, self-respect, and confidence. I help them learn they can break the cycle.”

Pannavati’s efforts offer much more than emotional and psychological support. A stepping-stone for job placement, the program guides participants through earning either a high school diploma or GED while completing the six-month apprenticeship, which lays the foundation for a career in culinary arts.

This winter, Cook will be one of the program’s first graduates. “I learn something new every day, and I’m challenged every day,” he says. “It’s an environment with no negative energy.”

My Gluten free Bread Co. 409 7th Ave. E., Hendersonville Open Wednesdays & Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (828) 393-9008 www.mygfbread.com

You did it!!!!

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Thanks to YOU, we exceeded our goal of $14,000. $15,061 has been pledged of which all but $600 has been received. We were able to purchase all remaining equipment and complete build out for a retail area as required by zoning (after we had initially received approval for wholesale only). Our master baker, former lead baker for Smart Treat, is already in the “kitchen.”  Subject to receiving our final health inspection and certification (samples submitted 4 weeks ago), we expect to open the bakery for tour by supermarket representatives the week of the 20th. Look for our grand opening to the public the week of the 27th! We will send out an announcement! Thank you all for stepping forward. This has turned out to truly be a social collaborative. Training youth for conscious living, meeting the health needs of our community and building a stronger, self-sufficient social service organization through profitable enterprise just makes sense!

S.O.S. We need 140 friends to make this happen. (Update) We now need 8 more friends. Will you pledge to help today. We are awaiting pledges that were promised and will mail in within next two days.and then we will conclude our fund drive.

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Dear Friends,
We’re sending this email just to friends of My Place. We are down to the wire and I need your help. It takes $50,000 to open the bakery apprenticeship program and bread company for homeless and at-risk youth ages 18 to 22 and have the needed operating capital reserve. We only raised $36,000. So, whether we open or not now depends on our friends.
On Friday, I started to throw in the towel and Roy and Jimmy gave me hope by asking to let them try one last time to step forward as part of the community that cares about our older youth. Here’s what they did: they pledged to raise $1,000 on Sunday by asking their church to match up to $500 in pledges to support this project providing jobs for our youth and got a nod. That night, they got a commitment from 10 friends and raised $500, making the total for the “ask”, $1,000—in one day!
Now, I know many of you have already given and some decided to forego helping us in favor of other equally worthy projects this year, but, I’m asking you for this last chance to help me help our community and our young people with training and jobs. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice of compassion for these neglected young people. My Place has single-handedly helped more youth in this age group/risk category outside of government or foundation supported agencies. And, we’re offering them a hand up….not a hand out in these tough economic times.
Here’s the bottom line: will you donate $100 now or pledge $100 if I call for in the next 10 days? It can be your donation or you can ask 5 of your friends to donate just $20 to a cause you care about. You can even give more if you wish! If we don’t raise the whole amount, ALL funds will be returned. You’ve never heard me say it before, but this is DO or DIE. Together, we have helped a lot of kids, and I thank you for all your past financial support and good intentions.
Pannavati & Michael
p.s. To make your donation, now, visit www.myplacewnc.org and click on paypal. To pledge help post comment on this post saying “Pannavati, Michael I will help.I pledge $____. We will post your first name and amount only.

Gluten Free Brownies

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Well well,

I have been experimenting with new brownie recipe. Finally I have got the flavor right. It took some time. Now all I have to figure our how to make it more fudge like (fudgy) and less cake like (caky). The word cake looks weird when written, but I guess its the right spelling. I will be researching and trying different options. Let me know if you have any suggestions or tricks. Baking is fun. I was also thinking that there may be a market for gluten free play-dough. I wonder if anyone has made it before. Hm mm. Maybe another experiment / science project / gluten free disaster.