Jump to Comments

When I put out a request for stories of people using food as a vehicle to help others, I heard from Karen of Spread the Bread.  Because her reply was so eloquent and inspiring, I thought I would share it with you, directly.

Michelle,
How wonderful that you want to share stories about food that can help people– they inspire, they matter and I love reading about them!!! Thought you might like to hear our “bread story”  that has our nation and our world “baking a difference,” especially during this holiday season!

When I was a kid, my mother made an unforgettable Irish Bread.  I’d run home from school, knowing it was sitting patiently on the table, waiting for the five of us to smother it with butter and devour it within minutes.  Maybe that’s why she offered the bread to others so often as a gift.  Through celebration and disappointment, from birth to death, this Irish Bread was a staple, a symbol of life and love.

As time went on, the rhythm of life changed but the bread was a constant, always there, providing nourishment and comfort to be cherished and remembered.

I only realized the power of this bread when we had our own kids.  I wanted them to feel the stability and comfort that this bread offered me.  So, back in the late 90′s when my girls were old enough to sit on a stool and stir batter, we began baking my mother’s Irish bread. We had no idea the world would later embrace our mission and spread bread for the world.

One bread turned into dozens and dozens of decorated breads, with ribbons and fun notes, delivered by our little “Kiefer bread elves”  to neighbors on our Framingham, Massachusetts street. People were so thrilled to receive this unexpected bread gift, making the girls want to just bake more and more.

This could have quickly gotten expensive, but there was always the Internet and finding creative ways to win or receive butter, flour and sugar coupons.  That kept our dough fellowship thriving….more breads delivered to the local nursing homes and then the Veterans Shelter next to my husband’s work in Boston.  Needless to say “bread spreading” became our thing.

When we moved to Wayland, Massachusetts at the end of 2000, spreading bread became a great way to meet the neighbors.  And then after September 11th, it became a great way to unite our community.  With the help of a friend, Juliette Fay, and a willing community–we asked people to get back into the warmth of their kitchens to bake bread-any kind of bread–then wrap the bread with love and notes of gratitude, hope and “happy good wishes” and then spread the bread to honor our heroes: police, firefighters, veterans, and to help those in need.  Officially, Spread the Bread was born. Hundreds of breads spread the area shelters, Meals on Wheels, food pantries, hospitals, etc….

Through the power of bread and word of mouth, our bread cause spread–and a grassroots bread crusade has spread throughout our country and found its way into 7 countries internationally. (South Korea even had a 24 hour Spread the Bread event for its youth the  and the Girl Guides of Japan just finished a bread project.)

The world began to understand and embrace the simple power of “baking a difference.”  We now have free online Starter Kits, a Cookbook, bread events, virtual bread forums, service-learning program, gluten-free bread programs, a patch programs for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts ways to get bread to our troops overseas–honor breads, memorial breads, prayer breads–you name it. Hundreds of thousands of breads spread.

Needless to say–we’re S-P-R-E-A-D-I-N-G our dough….last year we also just introduced Spread the Biscuits for our animal heroes and animals in need!!!

This holiday season we’ll be spreading bread and running a Gingerbread House project for the homeless…We are also sponsoring the 2nd annual Million BREAD Bake through New Years Day—trying to inspire others to help bake a million breads for others this holiday season.

Karen Kiefer and the “Kiefer bread elves”
McKenna (12) Madison (11) Emma (9 ) Rose (6) Kiefer

Inspiration Irish Bread

This is the bread recipe that inspired Spread the Bread, an organization that inspires families to bake and share bread for our heroes and those in need.

4 cups all-purpose flour
¾  of a cup of white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
¾ cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup of raisins
1 tablespoon brown sugar
sprinkle of white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and butter.
3. In smaller bowl, stir lightly 1 cup of milk, egg and sour cream.
4. Pour this mixture into dry mixture and stir.
5. Add a cup of raisins.
6. Stir again.
7. Pour batter into a loaf pan and sprinkle with sugar and brown sugar.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes.
9. You may drizzle loaf with butter while it bakes.

Please let me know if you plan to Spread The Bread this Holiday son, or if you know of other inspiring stories like this one!