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    • 'It will always be free': Manitoba woman bakes 2,000 loaves of bread for community

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    WINNIPEG -

    Baking bread has become a big part of Joan Vanderlinde's life over the past couple of years.

    Living in Morris, Man., when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada, she started thinking of ways to spread kindness in her community. She came up with an idea she called The Bread Basket.

    "It just became super clear to me. (I'm) going to bake a loaf of bread, put it on the lamp post, and start texting people or calling people and say come get bread."

    On March 23, 2020, Vanderlinde made her very first loaf. She created a Facebook page and told people to come grab free bread at their leisure. From there, The Bread Basket began to grow.

    She said people have come from all over the province to get some of her free baking.

    "I think the furthest that it's gone is Swan River. I know a lady took a bunch of bread out there. So it's going far and wide now, and I maintain it will always be free."

    Fast Forward almost two years, and Vanderlinde is baking her 2000 loaf of bread that will be given to one lucky Manitoban.

    On Halloween night, people who come by for trick-or-treating can submit their name into a jar, and whoever wins will get loaf 2,000 to take home and eat.

    "Then (on November 1) it's full blast from 2,001, like full-on production."

    Vanderlinde said that from the beginning, people have been donating ingredients and money to her so she can bake the bread.

    She said she buys most of her supplies from Morris Bigway Foods.

    Pat Schmitke, the store owner, has sampled some of The Bread Basket loaves himself and said Vanderlinde is a very giving person.

    "The whole thing and how it started, and where her heart was at when she did start it just tells you so much about what Joan is all about. How she feels about people, and about the community she lives in."

    Schmitke said reaching the 2,000 loaf milestone is very impressive.

    "The bread is very good, and it comes from the heart for sure."

    Vanderlinde doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. She said it's fulfilling to do kind things for other people.

    "It's an act of kindness that is warming to the heart and the stomach at the same time."

    Vanderlinde's is aiming to reach 3,000 loaves of bread by March 2022. 

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