Melting Pot food expert Ingar Brunnett posted a piece on Be the Loaf on her TasteMemory.com  blog this week. If you can keep your eyes off the lead photo on her blog (I think it’s octopus, but maybe squid), scroll down to the feature that captures the whole, delicious Be the Loaf movement, photos and all. That Ingar can cook and she sure can teach cooking — and she’s got a way with words.

Jeffrey and Shari Weitzner were featured Celebrity Chefs at Triumph Community Development Corporation on Feb. 29, 2008, when they brought their famous chocolate cookie recipe and worked with Triumph kids making and baking the real deal. Wow, what a day, and the basement of the church has never smelled so delicious. With kids dancing in the background during their weekly dance lessons, and gooey chocolate chip cookies coming from the oven, and with Belinda Criswell leading an art project at the table, it was simply an amazing day. Thanks, everyone, for all you do for the children.

Lots of inquiries have come in about how people can help. Donations may be mailed to:

Triumph CDC, 1312 Franklin Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32206. Pastor Criswell doesn’t have anything like Paypal or credit card capabilities yet, so it’ll have to be in check form. Thanks! – Suzanne Yack

Thanks to columnist Charlie Patton of the Florida Times-Union, Pastor Moses Criswell and Be the Loaf Campaign for Children was featured Feb. 26, 2008 on the front of the Metro section. Nice job, Charlie, capturing how Moses has worked 12 years to become an overnight sensation.

We welcome all help to the Be the Loaf Campaign for Children. This is all about how everyone can pitch in just a little bit more to ensure children are educated, fed and safe, no matter what neighborhood they live in.

Behind every thriving and joyful child is a loving, caring adult.

On Feb. 22, 2008, Inga Brunnett, founder and creative force behind Taste Memory,  was that loving and caring adult who worked with children making homemade pretzels in the modest sanctuary basement of Triumph the Church in East Jacksonville, Florida.

The culinary expert dusted the Formica countertop with flour, rolled out the dough
and showed children how to twist it into both classic and innovative pretzel shapes,
then brush an egg wash over the top and pop it in the oven for a few minutes.

The smell of baking bread wafted through the church basement, where
children drop in every day for tutoring, snacks and mentoring.

When the pretzels were golden, the children then were able to eat the fruits
of their own labor.

What a great way to end a busy week in East Jacksonville.

And a good way for children to get away from the gunfire and terror of the streets
in the neighborhood, where yellow crime-scene tape is a regular part
of the landscape.

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Crime-fighting Pastor Calls for Unusual Donation: Bread Making Machines

For Immediate Release

Pastor Moses Criswell was rebuffed by a major bakery-coffeehouse chain when he requested day-old bread to help his after-school program at Triumph Community Development Corp., 1312 Franklin Street. He turned to Scripture for advice on getting more children to come and study after school – an after-school snack is essential to ensure attendance.

“All children need some sort of after-school care,” said Criswell, who has become known in his neighborhood for taking on thugs and street-sold drugs. “We have to break the cycle of poverty and crime through education. But growing children need an after-school snack.”

“We realize that Panera Bread Company can’t help every nonprofit that asks for help, but out on these streets, children are fighting for their lives,” he said of the neighborhood where shootings have become commonplace.

That’s how Criswell’s “Be the Loaf” campaign started – realizing that the community could assist. Donated bread machines* will be put into service at the after-school program to create nutritious after-school sandwich bread for up to 100 children.

To be part of the “Be the Loaf” campaign and donate your bread making machine contact Suzanne Yack, 904-737-7469.

*Machines not used at the church will be auctioned to raise funds for peanut butter and jelly.
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When Triumph Community Development Center’s after-school program asked Panera Bread Company for day-old bread to feed 100 Jacksonville inner-city children who visit the center daily to work on their homework, the answer was a polite “no.”

However, Panera’s did give Pastor Moses Criswell a certificate for one loaf of bread per month.

To feed 100 children a day.

A man of faith, Pastor Moses didn’t feel the sting of a gift at which others might scoff.

Instead, he sees it as a “challenge grant” and looks to the people of God to multiply that loaf of bread.

Pastor Moses said, “Panera told us there are many worthy causes that they cannot support, and yet we know our children in inner-city Jacksonville are worthy of investment. We also know our community will rise to the challenge. We’re now calling for the miracle that takes one loaf of bread and turns it into many.”

Jacksonville, Florida is the Be the Loaf launchpad that is spreading from community to community in Florida.

Pastor Moses Criswell wants to create a more self-sufficient generation of children from the urban core.

“This is more than just about bread,” said Moses. ”This is about the destiny of inner-city children, who have to rely so much on themselves in this world today. It’s a very harsh life for them.”

Inner-city Jacksonville is the epicenter for murders in Florida. Be the Loaf campaign is a pivot for fighting crime, fighting hunger and fighting hopelessness.

Donate your good, used bread machine today. We’ll put it to good use in our Be the Loaf campaign.

And watch the miracles unfold.

We launched Be the Loaf Campaign for Children on Martin Luther King Day, 2008. Stay tuned for miracles.