Voyageurs Community Loaf Redesigned
The why... This is one of the questions we ask ourselves regularly... Why do we do what we do?
The answer has been the same since we started.
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Create a quality product:
Craft an outstanding, high quality artisan sourdough using as many local ingredients as possible.
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Set the atmosphere and the energy:
Create a positive environment that sparks joy, curiosity, and brings community together around a beautiful artisan product.
With the Bakehouse opening in March 2020, we were bursting with excitement to bring people together around our tables and spark a sense of community connectedness.
The pandemic had different plans for us.
As it swept across the globe, our doors were forced closed just one week after opening them. The community connectedness of the Bakehouse needed to foster itself in a different way than what we had imagined.
In April 2020, the Community Loaf was first introduced.
A customer reached out with the idea for the Community Loaf. He said…
- Create a loaf that a customer purchases as a donation.
- Then Voyageurs completes the donation to a local organization on the customer's behalf.
- These additional bread purchases will help the Voyageurs team remain employed and support community organizations reaching out to those who may need a little extra help.
A profound circle of community support.
To date, over 1400 loaves have been donated to local organizations in Green Bay and Appleton through the Community Loaf. Some of the recipients are seen in the above picture.
Indeed, a profound circle of community support...
But we know we can do even more. So we went to the drawing board to re-imagine and re-design how we can impact even more lives... together.
Voyageurs Community Loaf Redesigned
Here's how we've redesigned our Community Loaf outreach plan to impact even more people:
It's important that you know who's receiving the loaf you're donating. There are 2 organizations that will receive Community loaves on a weekly basis: NEW Community Shelter & The Salvation Army (more details below).
In addition to offering support through bread donations, $2 from every customer donated loaf will be given to a chosen organization who may not have a need for bread.
By expanding our reach with a monthly monetary donation, it allows us to highlight awareness to specific organizations and initiatives in our area that mean something to both our Voyageurs team and our customers. At the end of every month, Voyageurs will write a check to the featured organization.
THE WHO... Who will be receiving the loaves donated?
One goal in redesigning the Community loaf was to create relationships with organizations that have a weekly need for a bread donation. This way the organization can rely on us to be their bread supplier. These are the 2 organizations we've collaborated with who are receiving a weekly delivery:
Just down the street from us in Downtown Green Bay, NEW Community is an emergency shelter that is open year-round to serve homeless adults in Brown County. Through their Community Meal Program, they serve dinner 365 days every year to anyone in the community in need.
Wherever there is a need in Greater Green Bay, the Salvation Army finds a way to help. The loaves we donate will support their mission to fight hunger by providing a nutritious lunch to neighbors in need Monday through Friday.
The $2 donation... who will be receiving the donation?
Every few months we'll feature a new organization. To know who is featured this month, visit the Community Loaf product page.
We'll also be asking for your suggestions through social media and our weekly email. So if there's an organization or cause you'd like to see featured, please get in touch!
From the very start of our entrepreneurial journey, we've been focused on why we do what we do.
But it's not just about bread.
It's about creating a community and a voice. A voice of honesty, sincerity, compassion and positivity.
We unite around our love of bread. And with that love of bread, together we can create rippling effects throughout our community.
Thank you for supporting and contributing to this vision. It’s truly amazing how something simple like bread can bring people together around the table and foster physical and relational well being in our homes and community.
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