This story was produced through a collaboration between WFAE and La Noticia. You canread it in Spanishat La Noticia. Puedes leer la nota en españolen La Noticia.
Charlotte bakery owner Manolo Betancur will travel next week to Ukraine, where he plans to help a war-stricken bakery prepare for winter.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began earlier this year, Betancur, formerly a member of the Colombian military, wanted to enlist to fight for Ukraine.
However, as an established business owner, that wasn’t a viable option. So Betancur, the founder of Manolo’s Latin Bakery in east Charlotte, decided to help feed people instead.
“I think the most important thing in any war is to keep the spirit alive. And in order for you to keep it alive, you need to have a full stomach,” he said. “As long as you have grain, salt and water, you can have bread. You have a full belly and your spirit is alive. So, that's how my philosophy started.”
Through online research and a contact in Poland, he connected with Хатинка Пекаря bakery in Bucha, Ukraine. The business, known in English as the Baker’s Hut, has been working to provide free bread during the war. But their facility sustained bomb-blast damage to its walls and wood-fired oven during the Russian invasion.
“I needed to let them know that they are not by themselves. There are people in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the United States that are thinking about them and caring about them,” he said.
Earlier this year, Betancur raised funds to donate a new oven to the bakery, which has been distributing up to 300 free loaves of bread a day. Now, Betancur plans to travel to the Bucha bakery and honor his promise to secure a delivery van and electric generators.
“I'm not going to be the one who is going to break that promise to them,” Betancur said. “So, no matter what, those $5,000 are going to be delivered.”
Betancur will travel to Poland first and then cross over to Ukraine. At night, he plans to shelter at a local church and during the day, he will work at the bakery.
He says he is still working to reach his $5,000 fundraising goal before he departs next week.
