UPDATE 12/17/21 Leena Lamba, Devin Lamba from Lafayette, delivered a mountain of blankets for our homeless neighbors.. Leena & Devin baked sourdough french bread and sold to neighbors and friends to buy these quality blankets to give to Jack Fleihmann to distribute mong concord’s homeless. with help from their parents. Original story below.
Move over San Francisco, Lafayette now has the Sourdough Kids. Three siblings Leena Lamba, 7, Devin, 5, and Keira, 2, are baking loaves of sourdough to sell to the neighborhood in their effort to raise money to buy blankets for the homeless. They call their project “Bread for Blankets.”
Inspired by Concord’s Jack Fleihmann
From their neighbor, parents Manoj and Jennifer Lamba heard stories of Concord’s Jack Fleihmann and his extraordinary humanitarian effort to provide daily hot meals, water, clothing, blankets, and much more, to Concord’s homeless over the past 18 months. Fleihmann recently was awarded the Jefferson Award for this.
Inspired, the Lambas felt that they could pitch in to help the cause and create a learning experience for the kids. So, they came up with the idea of selling bread to raise money to buy blankets.
“The whole idea is to get them to understand that they could use their time, rather than on something for themselves, but to serve others. So, we are finding ways for them to be able to put meaningful touches on this project and be valuable,” Jennifer said.
Manoj works at ClassDojo, which is a communication app for teachers and families in elementary schools helping create positive experiences that can encourage students for any skill or value — whether it is working hard, being kind, or helping others. His role is Product Director.
During the month of December, loaves will be baked with parental supervision. The Sourdough Kids oversee all of it, including branding, delivery, collections, thanking the neighbors and donators, and supporters.
To start, they are making eight loaves daily using the infamous San Francisco’s Tartine Bakery bread recipe. Sales began with the neighbors’ orders, but they hope to expand to their soccer team and classrooms for as much as they can manage.
“The kids deliver the loaves and collect the $20 donation. With that money we will purchase blankets and deliver to the folks in Concord who need them.”
“We’re hoping this helps the community and offers our kids a chance to learn the true spirit of Christmas. I want the kids to do the rounds with Jack to do the blanket delivery,” Jennifer stated.
If you would like to order or donate, you can contact them at www.breadforblankets.com.