Once Julie Allen slides a bread pan onto the oven racks, she sees the love she puts into her bread rise with each minute. Loaf by loaf, she hopes to help those facing hardship and food insecurity.
Allen is the founder and organizer of the #Bakewithme Project, a network of volunteer bakers who make loaves monthly and drop them off at Athens area nonprofits, homeless shelters and churches. Volunteers each month contribute about 30 loaves to each organization, meaning at least 30 families every month get homemade bread from the heart.
“It impacts the people that we serve because it’s sort of unexpected. I’ve referred to it as a bread hug. I think anytime we receive homemade bread from someone, it just warms your heart and hopefully warms their stomach,” Allen said. “I like that it’s kind of anonymous. We’re taking part and making something good happen but, it’s also really void of self.”
Credit: Samantha Hurley
Credit: Samantha Hurley
Allen, who grew up in Gwinnett County, earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Georgia and now considers Athens home. As a young adult, Allen started baking as a hobby to be in the kitchen and to serve people.
“I definitely found that my favorite thing was using my creativity, making a product so it was, like, task-oriented,” Allen said. “And then giving it away and hopefully having people like it.”
The artistry that Allen found in the kitchen propelled her from working as a financial copywriter into a new career and into a new way to serve the community. Winning a company baking contest with mango bread gave her the inkling that she had the ability to bake for others. But the three weeks she spent unemployed in 2016, after a restaurant she worked at had closed, was the determining factor.
She filled every day with a new creative project. Toward the end, she baked a loaf of whole wheat bread for a friend, and that loaf revealed a passion specifically for bread.
Allen honed her knowledge of pastries and bread at Independent Baking Co. in Athens before starting her own business in 2018, RISE Baking Co., which allowed her to work and bake bread from home to sell at farmer’s markets and through her website. During the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021, Allen knew she wanted to initiate some kind of volunteer community to give back. She came up with the #Bakewithme Project name and then had to figure out the logistics.
She reached out to the Athens Community Council on Aging, which was her first partner. Social media, word of mouth and Allen’s dedication to this cause allowed her to grow her network. The volunteer bakers this year have delivered loaves to Athens Area Homeless Shelter, Covenant Presbyterian Church of Athens, and Project Safe, a nonprofit organization working to end domestic violence.
“It’s been really wonderful to have these volunteer bakers who just have baked their best recipes with love and care in their own kitchen and then packaged them up carefully, beautifully and brought them here to the church,” said Amy Baer, outreach coordinator for Covenant Presbyterian Church. “You don’t come to a food pantry unless you really, really need food and it’s just like a loving topping on a very basic bag of food.”
Credit: Samantha Hurley
Credit: Samantha Hurley
Allen specializes in sourdough bread, but volunteers bring in rolls, sandwich bread, and quick breads like banana bread and cornbread. If you’re nervous about baking bread, Allen thinks the only reason she is a successful baker is from failing until she got it right.
“I really think your heart and your intention translates in what you do in the kitchen. So, if you have a desire, and you’re not sure if you’re good enough, move towards the desire because that’s the only way you’ll become good,” Allen said. “It starts with the first step, just like anything else. And it’s always possible.”
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