Kelz Bakery bakes and donates bread just for the Sooke Food Bank

Source: Kevin Laird, Sooke News Mirror

One local bakery is doing its part to make sure the community has enough food, baking 32 loaves of bread daily for the Sooke Food Bank during the pandemic.

The food bank came around for four or five days, saying the grocery stores had nothing, and we had next to nothing. So we wanted to help them out by baking some bread for them. We saw a need and decided we could be the ones to meet it.

Kelly Busse, Kelz Bakery

Kim Metzger, president of the Sooke Food Bank said normally the food bank would receive donations of day-old baking from local grocery stores and bakeries, but since everyone has been worried about food, donations have gone down. “That’s when Kelz offered to donate bread. But it’s not easy for businesses either right now, so we made them a deal: they donate half and we pay for half of the loaves,” said Metzger.

Kelly added that bread is an essential food item for a lot of families and he has the ability to make it since the pandemic has slowed business and freed up some of his time. So far the bakery has made 168 loaves for the food bank, taking about two hours each morning to bake, slice, bag and send them over.

Kelz Sweet & Savoury Bake Shop has been open in Sooke for seven years and both owners Kelly and Yvonne Busse have been baking their entire lives. The couple creates a wide variety of both sweet and savoury treats every day, but specialize in birthday cakes. “I draw all the cakes by hand, so people can come in and show me a photo of what they would like and we can make that for them,” said Kelly. Currently, they are only offering take-out, but customers can order cakes. The bakery has increased sanitation protocols, and is thankful their customers are mindful not to “dig through the whole batch of cookies” before they pick one. Kelly said the bakery plans to stay operating throughout the pandemic.

The Sooke Food Bank has seen the demand for food increase by 10% this year, and since the outbreak, Metzger said it has increased another 40%. “It’s just crazy right now,” she said, noting the food bank made more than 60 hampers yesterday. Normally, the food bank serves about 650 people every month and this month they expect about 1500. “Our goal is to meet everyone’s needs and this is the most dedicated group of volunteers that will make it happen.”