separateurCreated with Sketch.

7,000 Loaves: 4 bakers trapped during Harvey provide bread, pan dulce for newly homeless

EL BOLILLO BAKERY
whatsappfacebooktwitter-xemailnative
J-P Mauro - published on 09/06/17
whatsappfacebooktwitter-xemailnative

The Mexican bakery donated the countless loaves to emergency centers all around Houston.The night shift at El Bolillo Bakery in Houston, Texas, had finished baking bread for the next day and were getting ready to go home when they realized that they were trapped in the flood caused by Hurricane Harvey. They needed a way to keep their minds off questions of their loved ones’ safety, and they still had electricity, so like all good craftsmen they poured themselves back into their work.

Knowing that a disaster of this magnitude would leave thousands of hungry citizens in its wake, the four men turned over 4,400 lbs of flour into bread and pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread usually eaten for breakfast). They were trapped all night and most of the following day, and during that time they worked tirelessly.

The Independent UK spoke with the owner of El Bolillo Bakery, Brian Alvarado, who explained the situation.

When they realized they were stuck, they decided to keep themselves busy and help the community and made as many loaves of bread as they could.

By the time the owner managed to get to them, they had made so much bread that we took the loaves to loads of emergency centers across the city for people affected by the floods.

Unfortunately, they did not count how many loaves they baked, but we tried to figure it out ourselves. There are about 20 cups of flour in a 5-lb bag. Depending on the size of the loaves, that could be anywhere from 8-10 loaves of bread per 5 lbs of flour. Even if we lowball the number at 8, that’s still more than 7,000 loaves of bread.

When the men were able to return home, three were happy to find their properties were dry, while one experienced some minor damages.

Did you enjoy this article? Would you like to read more like this?

Get Aleteia delivered to your inbox. It’s free!

Tags:
Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.