Bakers aim to raise dough

The Community Justice and Mediation Center will have its fifth-annual Breadfest today, a competition between any local breadmakers who wish to participate.

Attendees will have the chance to sample yeast, quick bread, which is made from fast-rising doughs, and celebration bread, which is a dessert or cake-like material.
Julia Dadds, a CJAM board member, said the event’s main purpose is to give the center another source of income besides grants, on which it has been completely dependent in the past.

Dadds said she hopes to have 200 people in attendance this year in order to meet the building’s rent and utilities. In the past, attendance has been between 80 and 120 people.

“Our goal is to be making $5,000 within two years,” Dadds said. 

The grants the center receives through the government will then be used for research and other innovations, Dadds said.

CJAM provides Bloomington with “an alternative to avoidance, destructive confrontation, prolonged litigation or violence,” according to the center’s Web site, and “offers constructive processes for resolving differences and conflicts between individuals, groups and organizations.”

The driving force behind Breadfest’s continued success is that it goes to a cause that people believe in, Dadds said. 

“It’s an event that reflects what CJAM stands for, the idea of community. It’s a mellow event,” she said.

Dadds said people can sit, talk, cook and relax together and reflect on the end of another year.

One baker, senior Katie Colvin, is entering a bread for the second time. Her first time participating in Breadfest was in 2007, which she described as “very laid back but super classy.”

Her main reason for entering was to support CJAM, but she also enjoyed the ample amount of food available throughout the evening.

Paige Freitag, CJAM vice president and co-chair of Breadfest, described the event as “an evening of great food and drinks” but said the underlying cause is the most important aspect of Breadfest.

“The proceeds go for a great cause. It’s a fun way to raise money for an important nonprofit in the community,” she said.