At least three members of the Minard family will be up to their elbows in dough… for dough.
Pastor Craig Minard, his father, Fred (72), and son, Ethan (16), are making chocolate cubes, jam fancies, Dutch bread, Vienna rolls, doughnuts and dogbones to fundraise for a mission to Mizque, Bolivia.
“Those are things that people have been after my dad and I since the last seven years I’ve been out (of the bakery business),” said Craig Minard.
The family, which operated the bakery for 65 years, will be sharing recipes and techniques and helping to publicize the new ownership of the business. James Crosby opens Bailey’s Bakery on Monday, Oct. 29. The bakery that last operated at that location was Thibault’s Bakery.
The mission to Bolivia that the Minards are fundraising for takes place from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2, 2013. Seven others are also traveling to Bolivia with the Craig, Fred and Ethan as part of a Canadian Baptist Miniseries program called S.T.E.P. (Serving, Training, Energizing, Partnerships.)
The program extends beyond financial giving and into an opportunity to build deep, multifaceted relationships.
Six participants are from the New Heights Baptist Church and four are from the New Tusket Baptist Church. The churches are donating $30,000 over three years towards the mission. In addition, each person going on the trip must raise $3,200 to $3,600.
“For three years we sponsor the missionary work in Bolivia and part of our support is to go down and see how things are going,” said Minard.
A portion of the funds will be directed to address the Chagas disease problem. Dwellings in Bolivia are made of adobe bricks, which harbour an insect called vinchuca. These emerge at night to bite the inhabitants, resulting in the Chagas disease. The parasite enters the victim’s bloodstream and can live undetected for decades while quietly destroying internal organs - especially the heart. The mission group will be stuccoing the inside of the houses to prevent entrance by the bugs.
Bakery orders to support the Bolivia project can be placed by Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. by calling 902-742-5855 or by email: minard @eastlink.ca. They can be picked up at the bakery on Thursday. Oct. 25 between noon and 4 p.m.
